


Life Through a Child's Eyes

by RECHerondale



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Caring Magnus Bane, Cute Alec Lightwood, De-Aged Alec Lightwood, F/M, Happy Alec Lightwood, Jaces fault, M/M, Multi, Spells & Enchantments, Unnamed Seelie, and good with children, raphael is also a daylighter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2018-11-22 23:30:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 24,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11390673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RECHerondale/pseuds/RECHerondale
Summary: Jace upset a Seelie and Alec is paying the price.The spell/curse/enchantment is meant for inconvenience but it didn't go as planned.Magnus cares for the young boy and learns a lot about his boyfriend.How will it go once the spell is over?Who knows.





	1. Chapter 1

Magnus gulps, eyeing the child standing in the middle of his living room as he wonders how this has become his life now – who knew that getting involved with shadowhunters would result in such weird and wacky adventures and outcomes. The warlock looks around at the shadowhunters shifting nervously around his living room, seeing them all glancing at the child from time to time but otherwise waiting for him to ask the inevitable question.

“Do I even want to know who or how this happened?” He asks as he finally continues moving into the room, having frozen in the doorway as soon as his eyes set upon the small boy stood in the centre of the room surrounded by shadowhunters well known to the warlock.

“Probably not,” Clary mumbles under her breath as she watches the young boy in front of her who seems fascinated by the warlock in front of him.

“Something went wrong on our mission and we can’t exactly take him back to the Institute,” Jace shrugs as he steps forward a little, hooking his finger in the back of the boy’s shirt when he starts to poke around at objects on the table nearby and pulls him away from the table a little. “Don’t touch them.”

The little boy sends the taller male a glare that would have probably looked more threatening on the adult version of the face but has lost its effect on the small chubby-cheeked face of the child. “Why should I listen to you?”

Jace sighs but decides to ignore the boy, still holding onto his shirt though so he doesn’t start to wander off. “Is there any way to fix this?”

Magnus eyes the group before crouching to be at eye level with the child, “Please tell me this isn’t my boyfriend,” He asks, taking in the young boy’s features and his laidback attitude around the other shadowhunters.

Izzy shifts nervously before sighing, “Umm... that’s your boyfriend – but he isn’t to blame for this, he was actually trying to fix it but the Seelie girl wasn’t impressed with his efforts and this happened. I still don’t see why you couldn't have just apologised, Jace.”

Magnus sighs, motioning for Jace to let the boy go before beckoning him closer. “Hello, Alexander,” He greets the boy, subconsciously smiling in response when the young boy gives him a wide excited smile and waves as he moves closer to the glittery older male. “How do you feel, huh?”

Alec rocks on his feet as he thinks over the question before giving the male two thumbs up, moving closer and inspecting the colours in the other male’s hair. He points to the colours as he speaks, “It’s pretty – like Izzy. She’s pretty as well but she doesn’t think so.”

Magnus smiles, picking the boy up once he is within arm's length and placing him on his hip as he faces the group, rubbing soothing circles in the boys back. “I have to agree with you there, Isabelle is quite magnificent but I know someone I think takes the prize for the most good-looking,”

Alec rests his head against the warlock’s shoulder as he listens to the man before pointing to Jace as he asks, “Is it Jace? Everyone says Jace is pretty too.”

Magnus chuckles, sharing a look with the others in the room before mumbling, “No, silly, it’s you.”

Alec giggles, wrapping his arms around the warlock’s neck before playing with the collar of the older male’s shirt.

“I can’t make anything tonight since it’s pretty late and my contacts prefer warning before I turn up looking for ingredients so I’m afraid that we won’t be getting my grumpy boyfriend back until at least tomorrow afternoon at the earliest.” The warlock addresses the others in the room, content to let the child in his arms play with his shirt collar for the moment.

“What are we going to do? Like Jace said, we can’t take him back to the Institute. Mum is back and I’m not sure she would be impressed at seeing her oldest son in the form of a six-year-old all over again.” Izzy inquires, walking over and running her fingers through her brother’s hair affectionately.

Magnus lets out a sigh, pretending that looking after the child version of his boyfriend is going to be such a hard feat – in reality, it will probably be easier since he seems more open to asking for things in this form than he is when he is an adult. “He can stay here until I can bring him back to his own size, I suppose.”

Clary sends the warlock a smile before they all bid the child version of the head of the Institute goodbye, getting smiles and excitable hugs in response as they are all made to promise to come back tomorrow.

Magnus smiles as he hears the front door shut, looking at the boy in his arms as he thinks about how odd this situation really is.

“Oh, Alexander, what am I going to do with you?”


	2. Chapter 2

Alec is unsurprisingly an easy child to care for; he isn’t fussy about what Magnus puts in front of him for dinner and he makes no move to argue when Magnus decides that it is about time that they should both get some sleep since it has been a long, eventful day for both of them.

Magnus wakes with a jolt the next morning as something falls in the kitchen. He rushes out of bed, pulling on some sweatpants and rushing to the kitchen, halting in the doorway to survey the scene. Alec is hauling himself to his feet, surrounded by what Magnus thinks is a bowl of what used to be cereal. As soon as the young boy sees Magnus, his face falls and his bottom lip starts to wobble slightly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to break it,” He sniffles, looking around himself before reaching out for the adult in front of him and letting his tears fall freely.

Magnus’ expression softens as he steps carefully towards the boy and picks him up easily, letting the boy bury his face against his neck as he snaps his fingers to clean up the mess around them. “I know you didn’t mean to, Alexander, I’m not mad at you. It was an accident; you don’t have to be sorry.”

He comforts the boy as best as he can while manually making the boy a bowl of cereal since the other bowl went to spoils. He sighs quietly, rocking the still sniffling boy, before looking up when he hears the front door open and the group of shadowhunters that he had been expecting to show up at some point today come into view.

“Aww, how adorable is that,” Jace remarks, though he soon loses his cheeky smile when he sees that the boy has been crying.

“Come on, Alexander, it’s all better now,” Magnus mumbles, picking up the bowl and carrying both the boy and the bowl into the living room before setting the bowl onto the coffee table and placing the young boy on the couch. “Eat up, and entertain your parabatai while I go and change into something more presentable.”

He ruffles the young Lightwood’s hair before giving the group a hand motion to tell them to wait and heading off to his room to change.

“What happened, bro?” Jace asks, dropping down next to the boy and receiving a glare when he jostles him enough to nearly make him spill the cereal - again.

“I was trying to make my own breakfast like I do when I’m a big boy and fell down. It made a mess all over the kitchen and I thought Magnus was going to be mad at me,” the young boy replies, watching his sister curiously as she smiles softly at him.

“You always did hate making a mess or doing things wrong.” She mumbles, looking down as she remembers all the times when they were younger when this exact scenario had happened. “Magnus would never yell at you, Alec. He loves you too much to lose his temper with you – plus, it’s not your fault that you don’t have the height advantage anymore so he can’t blame you.”

Alec narrows his eyes at his sister but makes no comments as he gets down from the sofa and takes the bowl to the kitchen, grumbling to himself when he realises that he can’t reach. He jumps when the bowl is taken out of his hands but smiles widely when he sees Magnus, reaching his arms up to signify that he wants to be picked up by the male again.

“I’m glad you’re not any bigger or I would never be able to do this,” Magnus comments as he lifts the boy, smiling at the giggle he gets in return. “Okay, I have to do a bit of research but I think I know what I’m going to need to bring him back. Your job is to keep him occupied and out of trouble until I am done.” The warlock snaps his fingers, changing the clothes that the young boy in his arms is wearing into something fresh – a little more colourful than he is used to seeing on the boy but Alec doesn’t seem to be complaining when he gives his new outfit a once-over.

Alec, who had not been paying any attention to what was previously being said, pouts when he hears the last part and it registers in his mind that he won’t be staying with Magnus today. He drops his head down onto the warlocks shoulder and holds on tighter to his shirt. When Magnus goes to give him over to someone else, Alec tightens his grip on the older male, shaking his head against his shoulder and wrapping his legs tighter around the warlock’s waist.

“No, I don’t wanna go,” Alec whines. “I wanna stay with you.”

“Alec, Magnus is going to be busy today. He can’t look after you and I doubt he’s going to be very fun to be around when he is so focused on his work.” Izzy responds, prying the wriggling boy away from the warlock and hugging him tight to her body while stepping away to prevent him from latching onto the male again.

“But-“

Clary, who had been mostly silent until that moment, decides to speak up, “Alec, Magnus is trying to fix this so you can be a big boy again, but to do that he needs peace and quiet. If you stay here, he is going to be worrying about you and he won’t be able to work as fast.”

Alec looks like he wants to argue for a second but he eventually gives in with a sullen nod. He wraps his arms around his sister's neck and hides his face in her hair, refusing to acknowledge anyone after that. He does peek out and waves goodbye with a sad pout when they leave but soon goes back to hiding once the door starts to close behind them.

\--------------------------------------------------------

“Where should we take him? Since we can’t go back to the Institute,” Jace asks as the group wander along the pavement with no particular destination in mind as of yet.

“Well, he’s already eaten so that's one thing sorted out, how about we call up the others and see who is free – it's pretty quiet recently so I don’t see why we can’t see who is interested in hanging out. I’ll call Luke, he has a little more experience with small kids than any of us so he has to know what we can do with him.” Clary replies, already dialling the number of the aforementioned male on her phone before anyone can protest – not that it looked like anyone was about to.

“Okay, I guess if Magnus has a free moment he can just come and join us – it might cheer Alec up since he’s in a grump now.” Izzy murmurs, jostling her now much younger brother to get his attention but sighs when he just ignores her efforts.

“Cheer up, Alec, you’re dragging my mood down and I was hoping we could have some fun today.” Jace tries but again gets nothing so he just shrugs and follows Clary who lets the group know that everyone who is coming is going to meet them in the park.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Clary rushes over to hug Luke as soon as the group catch sight of the male, greeting the others around them as the rest of the group say hello to Luke. Alec turns his head on his sister's shoulder, facing outwards and watching the park but blanking everyone else, still in a mood that he had to leave Magnus since he is Alec's favourites person to hang out with right now.

“Hey, don’t be rude, say hello to everyone.” Izzy nudges him back so that he has to move from his position. Alec looks around and waves slightly before wriggling to be put down, wandering over to where the others have seemed to set up and dropping down onto the grass by their stuff.

“I didn’t know you had another kid around the Institute,” Raphael states, watching the young child for a moment – unconsciously looking out for any harm and making sure the child in front of him is staying out of trouble. “Another brother I presume.”

“Funny that, you’ve actually met – however, you’ve met the older version,” Clary replies as they all settle on the grass too.

“I may have pissed off a Seelie who holds a grudge likes no other – Alec decided to step in and this is how his efforts turned out. Magnus is working on looking for a reversal for all of this but, for now, we are in charge of looking after a child version of my older brother.” Jace clarifies when they get confused looks from everyone.

“I see he’s still pretty grumpy, even as a kid.” Simon jokes, getting nudges from both Maia and Raphael, a warning look from Luke and a quite venomous glare off of Alec.

“He wasn’t happy about leaving Magnus, this is the most social he has been since we left,” Izzy answers, sparing her brother a glance before Maia starts up a conversation and she gets distracted; the others also end up in conversations which leaves Alec having to entertain himself since nothing they are talking about is interesting to him at the present time.

He gets up, wandering away slightly and eyeing the play equipment. As much as it looks fun to go on, he doesn’t feel like giving the others the satisfaction of him actually enjoying any time spent away from Magnus so he just walks around a little, staying mostly in view of the others but looking around for something to do.

Alec watches the water of a lake he finds just over a ridge, mesmerised by the way the light hits the water and by the movement he can see of creatures below the surface. While younger than he should be, he is still somewhat aware of everything his years of training have taught him – not everything but enough to know that the creatures he can see are not visible to the mundanes around him.

He smiles when he hears soft giggling and whispers, shuffling closer to the water and looking for the source of the sounds. The water ripples slightly as something also takes an interest in him, causing him to reach out to see if it will come closer so he can see it properly. He doesn’t realise but he is leaning too far out, any more and he will end up in the water with whatever he is reaching out for. Just when he shuffles and finally seems to be able to reach out that little bit more, he slips.


	3. Chapter 3

 “Alec, no, don’t -” A voice rings out across the park just as his foot slips and he loses balance.

He scrunches his eyes shut tightly as he sees the water rising up to meet him, part of him not sure if he can still swim – he knows he can as an adult but he isn’t so sure that he was able at this age. Just before he can hit the water, there is a subtle ‘swoosh’ before arms wrap around him and pick him up swiftly, causing him to lose his breath at the suddenness of the action.

“I’ve got you,” Alec whimpers, burrowing closer to the body in front of him and openly seeking the comfort that they are offering him as he feels them rock him gently and move away from the pond to prevent another mishap. “It’s okay, I’ve got you, I promise that it’s safe now.”

Alec clings to the male, not caring that he and Raphael don’t have the most agreeable relationship when he is in his proper body and accepts all the comfort he can get from the embrace he gets in return. He sniffles a few times, listening to his siblings worrying over him before settling when they are reassured that he is fine and nothing too untoward has happened to him.

“I feel like a bad childminder, how did Alec do this?” Jace sighs, sharing a look with Izzy, who nods in agreement, but aiming his words at the whole group in general.

“Well, he had you for a parabatai only when you were older and Izzy has always been pretty mature according to all of the stories I have heard, so he only had to do it once – with Max,” Clary replies, shrugging when her words don’t seem to help her boyfriends worsening mood.

Luke is the one who talks some sense into the siblings with his next words, “Alec took primary responsibility for Max so I’m not surprised you two don’t deal well with children. Clary was an only child for most of her life and Simon was the younger sibling so they can’t do much better than you two.” Luke gets unhelpful shrugs from the two he mentioned, and a nod from Maia who seems to want to help but is wary as to how she can at this point. “I’m okay with kids but only because of Clary and sometimes looking after Simon when he was a kid as well.”

“I was the oldest so I helped my mum look after my younger siblings a lot,” Raphael says simply by way of an explanation, rocking the child in his arms and absently noting that he is squirming a lot less and seems to be getting a little sleepy now. He loosens the boy’s grip on his suit carefully before gently handing him over to Jace, who looks a little lost for a second before relaxing as the boy settles against his chest without a complaint. “He’ll be down for a bit, and I wouldn’t worry about waking him – children at that age are surprisingly deep sleepers.”

Jace gives the older vampire a thankful look before absently rubbing circles against his younger parabatai’s back and resting his cheek against the raven locks of the boy.  Izzy shuffles closer, holding onto the young boy’s hand while leaning against Jace’s side. “I guess this will be a learning curve for all of us then,” she mumbles as she takes in the relaxed features of the dozing boy in her adopted brother's lap.

“I guess so,” Jace mumbles, in response; the soft look that flickers across his face not going unnoticed by the group around them before the siblings engage in their previously paused conversations while glancing at the young boy every now and again to reassure themselves that he is still there and safely tucked up against Jace’s chest.

\----------------------------------------------------------

“What do you mean you haven’t found a way to reverse it yet?” Jace pauses his pacing to ask once again.

“Exactly what I said five minutes ago, the spell wasn’t as simple as I first thought; Seelie and Fae magic is not quite the same as warlock magic so the fix isn’t going to be as simple as I had hoped. In most cases, Seelie magic usually wears off when the person affected learns the lesson that the Seelie is trying to teach them. As this is affecting the wrong person, whatever lesson they were hoping you would learn has to be found out so I have something more solid to work on – you would be surprised how many spells there are around that can have this effect.”

Jace growls in response, going back to pacing the living room and avoiding the girls when they try and make him sit down, commenting about how he is going to wear a hole in the floor soon but he just ignores them. Alec watches his pacing parabatai before reaching out for Magnus, the emotions coming through the bond that he still shares with Jace making him uneasy.

Magnus sighs, plucking up the boy and rocking him, instantly calming him much to the amusement of Raphael who chose to return to the loft with the group – the siblings are silently thankful since they have been relying on his experience with children for much of the day to help them care for the boy.

“You’re scaring Alec,” Raphael speaks up, finally getting Jace to sit down once his words register with the blonde.

Alec rests his head on the Warlocks shoulder, playing with Magnus’ ear cuff and absently scratching at the material of his shirt which he seems to find comfort in. Magnus hums under his breath, making a drink with his free hand and listening to Alec mumble about his adventures of the day and complain about not being able to see Magnus at all since that morning.

Magnus frowns when Alec talks about what happened at the pond, “Oh, is that right?” He turns, watching the shadowhunters of the group who seem to have left a pretty important detail out of their recollection of the day when Magnus had asked earlier. “You seem to have neglected to mention something, any ideas, Jace?”

Jace gulps, not even pretending to be innocent this time. “So there may have been a slight mishap but Raphael was there so he’s fine – see, all in one piece.”

Magnus hums, sending the blonde a glare as he uses his magic to give the young boy in his arms a once-over just in case there is anything else that they haven’t told him, relaxing only once he is certain that the boy is fine. “Well Alexander, it seems like you’ve had quite the adventure today.”

Alec smiles tiredly at the warlock, getting sleepy really quickly in the males warm embrace, though his expression quickly morphs into a pout when Magnus puts him down on the sofa but shrugs it off quickly when Chairman Meow joins him on the seat. He curls up with the cat as Magnus calls on Clary to help him make enough food to feed everyone – except Raphael and Simon who Magnus makes something separate for.

Magnus huff in amusement when he comes back into the living room to see Alec curled up with the cat on the sofa, completely oblivious to everything going on around him as everyone settles to eat the food that has been prepared for them.  He conjures a blanket to cover the small boy before also settling down to eat, keeping a careful eye on the child in case he is needed at any time.

Unbeknown to him, Raphael is watching the exchange, remembering how well Magnus cared for him all those years ago and absently thinking about how well Magnus would take to the role of a father and already knowing that Alec is just as good with children as his boyfriend. Alec is in the best hands with the warlock, whether he knows it yet or not.


	4. Chapter 4

Alec wakes with a start as the sound of a familiar ring tone throws him into full consciousness. He looks around, confused at his change of location before shrugging it off, obviously, someone moved him in his sleep – he has a vague memory that he may have done the same to his younger brother on more than one occasion. He pushes the covers off and crawls to the edge of the bed, getting down carefully and wandering over to the door which has been left ajar, probably so that Magnus or whoever can check on him without the sound of the door risking waking him up.

“That was mum – again – for the fourth time in the past two hours.” A feminine voice that Alec’s groggy mind recognises as Isabelle. “I can’t keep ignoring it or declining it – one of us is going to have to answer. I’m surprised she hasn’t tried tracking us yet.”

“That may have something to do with my wards – they block the signals to an extent. Parabatai tracking is slightly harder to block hence how you tracked me on that first day we all met properly.” Magnus replies, sounding further away than Isabelle.

Alec nudges the door open more and pads out, rubbing one of his eyes with his fist as his other hand fiddles with the hem of his shirt. He looks around the living room, spotting his siblings and Clary scattered around – either they stayed the night or they came back early in the morning again. His feet make soft noises against the floor as he moves towards Jace and reaches out for the now older boy to pick him up.

“Morning, Alec, how are you feeling?” The blonde asks as he follows through with what the boy wants, pulling him up and letting the boy sit in his lap and lay against his chest like yesterday.

Alec gives him a noncommittal hum as he rests his head against the blonde’s shoulder, fisting one hand in his shirt and absently bringing the other hand up to his mouth as his eyes follow the movements of Chairman Meow who has appeared from some place or another.

Jace seems to give up on getting a proper answer from the boy in his lap as he goes back to the conversation Izzy had started before the boy had made an appearance. “I know, Iz, but I’m not sure how we are supposed to explain any of this to mum, it’s already hard enough to do Alec’s work behind her back on top of what we are already tasked with. I have never been more thankful that Simon spends so much time at the institute before now but he is coming in handy with helping us keep up with the paper work.”

Izzy sighs, agreeing with her brother in every way. Simon has been a god send for the siblings, filling in some of their basic paper work for them as they cover half of their own and Alec’s workload between the two of them. Clary has done some as well but they couldn’t have too many people doing it or there was a higher chance that someone may catch on that things aren’t quite right.

“No doubt you’d never say that to his face.” She jokes before her mind goes back to the situation at hand.

“If your mum did find out, what would happen?” Clary queries.

“I doubt Maryse would be happy that her oldest son, coincidently the Head of the Institute, has been reverted back to a young child again – I daresay it’s not the kind of` age group many parents want to deal with more than once if they have to,” Magnus speaks up, finally making an appearance in the room.

The comment makes the group laugh before the warlock notices the young presence in the room. “Alexander, your hand is not a chew toy, get it away from your mouth.” He reprimands the boy as he takes him from the blonde, pulling the hand away from the boy's mouth gently as he speaks.

Alec sighs, wrapping his arms around Magnus’ neck and swinging one of his legs subconsciously.

“Are you hungry?” Magnus asks, waiting for the boy to respond and rolling his eyes when he also just gets a hum in response, “You’re having a grumpy morning today then, huh?”

Alec shakes his head quickly before rethinking it and shrugging, prompting a chuckle from Magnus before the warlock gets some toast that he had laid out of the counter by his own breakfast for the boy for eat. Alec nibbles on the toast as the conversation continues on around him, getting interrupted every now and again by some distraction or another before they focus again.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

Alec is sitting on the floor, petting Chairman Meow and rolling around a toy Magnus magicked up so that the boy could play with the cat, who happily obliged to the new activity, when the chatter is interrupted by heavy knocks on the door. Magnus makes a face but snaps his fingers to open the door, most of the people present greeting the new guest once they appear in the room.

“Luke, what’s up?” Jace asks the older male.

“Maryse has been in touch with the pack asking us if we knew the whereabouts of her son since she went to his office this morning and found him missing. She won’t come here unless it's a last resort since your past makes civil conversation quite impossible and I think she still likes to pretend that she doesn’t know her son is basically living with you by now.”

“Woah, slow down a second,” Magnus puts his hands up in a pause motion before continuing, “So she has asked the pack to track him? Or just if you know where he could be at this time in the morning?”

“Currently I have her under the impression that I know a few places he could be and that I am out to check on him since he hasn’t left any notice that he wouldn’t be at the Institute today but I wouldn’t put it past her to be sending a fire message soon to order us to search him out and drag him back,” Luke states, bending down and greeting Alec with a high five.

“What would he need to be doing to-“ Jace cuts himself off as he turns to face his sister. “Lydia is coming to the institute today to carry out an inspection for the inquisitor to make sure Alec is still doing his job and following all of the rules and such. The Head of the Institute has to be present or have a valid reason for not being there.”

Clary quickly jumps in with the only logical answer that could even work on such short notice. “Glamour yourself as Alec – if it worked on Valentine to appear as me then an inspection should be easy. Plus, if Lydia realises it is unlikely she will tell anyone or include it in the report she is obligated to send back – she may work for the clave still but she is still our friend and pretty protective over Alec considering how everything went down between them.”

“Fine, but I hope you’re right.” Jace concedes defeat, getting up and saying a quick goodbye before heading out of the apartment with Luke who has decided to walk with him back to the Institute

“Bye bye, Jace. Bye bye, Luke” Alec calls after the pair, shrugging when he doesn’t get a reply and going back to playing with the toy which the Chairman has been pushing in his direction ever since the distraction was taken care of by his owner.

“Alec, what do you want to do today? The weather isn’t great and Magnus isn't working today.” Izzy asks, getting the boy's attention again.

Alec looks around the loft for something to do but ends up shrugging when he finds nothing he is interested in. The girls look to each other for any ideas but Magnus shakes his head with a smile before moving to once again pick up the boy.

“Are you sure? You know I can make nearly anything happen but you still don't know what you want?” He teases, jostling Alec as he hides his face against the older males shoulder with a cheeky smile. “Come on Alexander, you’re the boss today, what are we going to do?”

Alec hums before pointing to the sofa and then the TV. When the girls look confused and Magnus doesn’t elaborate what he meant for them as he motions them to stand, Alec mumbles what he meant by the action. “Fort and movies.”

They smile, immediately jumping to help the warlock who is working one handed since Alec doesn’t want to get down and Magnus has made no attempt to actually put him back down. It takes a few minutes, and a few cushions being conjured from other places that nobody present is willing to even question the origin of – you never know with Magnus –  before they have a large, steady fort with enough space for all of them and more, and everything else set up – including the list of movies queued on the TV and all the snacks they want.

Alec settles between Magnus and Izzy, reaching out for Clary’s hand and holding it with both of his so that he is in contact with all of them before smiling happily and switching his full attention to the movie that has just started.

He laps up all of the attention, not even caring how mortified his adult self would be by all of this. He also doesn’t notice when Magnus and Izzy share worried looks over his head, their minds still dwelling on a conversation they had had that morning about the boy curled up between them, still blissfully unaware of it all.


	5. Chapter 5

Alec gets bored pretty quickly with the films because not all of them are about things that he is familiar with – Clary and Magnus have been trying to introduce the Lightwoods to mundane movies for a while and some of the films have got to be their choices because they’re just really boring to Alec, though Izzy looks pretty interested in some of them. He takes interest in the bracelet around Izzy’s wrist, tracing the patterns and the following the metal bar round and round her arm until he reaches the other end, studying the snake with quiet fascination even though he is sure he has seen it before.

When that also loses its appeal, he starts tracing the shapes on the arms of both girls, squinting as he thinks over why he has a feeling that he has seen them before but shrugs to himself when he comes up blank. He looks at his own arms, wondering how cool some of the patterns would look on his own pale, bare arms that look so weird now that he really takes notice of them; it’s like there is something missing. He then looks at Magnus, noticing that he doesn’t have any of the patterns on his arms but Magnus is magic so maybe he doesn’t need them. He looks around when the others start shifting suddenly, noticing that the film they were all so focused on has finished.

“What now?” Alec asks Magnus, hoping he will choose this time because he doesn’t really like the number of choices he has when they make him do it. The girls also don’t seem to want to choose so Alec only has Magnus to look to for direction.

“Well, it’s lunchtime so, first things first, food.”

Alec smiles, crawling out of the gap and waiting not far away for Magnus to catch up, waving to Chairman Meow who greets him after moving across the sofa he has been sleeping on. Alec pets the small cat happily before skipping along behind Magnus when the group starts to head towards the kitchen. They won’t let him help but Izzy hands him her phone to mess around with while she sits with him at the table, keeping an eye on him while the other two prepare a meal for everyone present and extra in case anyone else makes an appearance.

Alec jumps when the phone vibrates in his hand, reading out the notification slowly, sounding out the words carefully so that Izzy understands him. “You have a text message from Jace.”

“Oh, what does it say?”

Alec presses the bar to open it before once again speaking carefully, though he slips up on some words. “Mum was suspicious but did not have time to ask too many questions. Lydia was not fooled but I was right in saying that she would not make a big deal. She’s coming with me back to the loft. Be back soon.” Izzy frowns but Alec isn’t sure if it is because of his slip-ups or because of the message so he shrugs it off and settles for just handing her back her phone and setting to work on the sandwich Clary puts in front of him, kicking his feet absently and sending Magnus a smile when the older male passes by to sit in his own seat.

Izzy lets the other two know what the message says before helping to clear the table once everyone has finished, following Magnus to the other side of the kitchen as they start a quiet conversation about something or other. Alec follows Clary when she beckons him to do so and sits next to her on the floor in the living room as she spreads out some of her art supplies that she must have brought with her to the loft this morning.

“Do you like to draw, Alec?”

Alec eyes the objects and shrugs, “Sometimes but mummy doesn’t like my drawings very much, she always says that I should be practising my runes or doing something more useful.”

Clary frowns but quickly schools her features again and instead puts some paper in front of the boy and scatters some pens in front of them both as she opens her art book. “Well I bet you’re an amazing artist, so I say show me what you’ve got, Lightwood.”

Alec perks up, setting to work on his own drawings since that is apparently what Clary wants them to do now. He sketches out anything that comes to mind, frowning at the bits that don’t come out on paper like he wants them to but moving on when he can’t fix them all that much. Clary gives some of his drawings compliments so he doesn’t mind all that much when one or two are ruined since the others seem to be deemed good enough. Clary even shows him her art book and he marvels over some of the pages, mumbling how much he wishes he could draw “so good as her”.

“Alec!” He hears Jace calling for him from the hallway by the front door. Alec drops the pen in his hand, racing to his feet and running to Jace to greet him happily. He smiles wider when the blonde crouches and holds his arms out for Alec to crash into his chest.

“You came back,” Alec says, wrapping his arms around the blonde’s neck as he lifts the boy in the process of standing up again to carry the boy.

“I was always going to come back,” Jace replies, returning the smile the boy in his arms is sporting still. “What have you been up to with Magnus and the girls?”

Alec settles, barely noticing as the male carries him back to the living room and yet to even fully acknowledge the woman following the pair through the loft. “We watched movies, and built a fort, and had food and then Clary let me use her stuff to draw. She showed me some of her drawings and she’s really good. I like Clary because she’s really cool.”

“Slow down, buddy.” Jace laughs, greeting the group that has congregated on the couches again and making a point not to look at the expression on Lydia’s face just yet. “Sounds like you did a lot and I’m sure Clary likes you too.”

Alec seems to perk up even more with the new information before looking around at the rest of the group, noticing the new addition but not greeting her since he isn’t sure about her yet. When he starts to wriggle, Jace lets him down before accepting the sandwich Clary has made for both of the newcomers. As soon as Alec is on the floor again, he wanders over to Magnus who is petting Chairman Meow. Magnus picks up the small boy, placing him in his lap and watching as his pet purrs under Alexander’s attention.

“Magnus, are we going to watch more movies in the fort?” Alec asks, petting the cat but watching the warlock with an eager expression, hoping that they can do just that.

“Not yet, Alexander. Lydia has come to see us so we have to be polite.” Magnus answers the boy, prompting the boy to at least acknowledge the blonde female as he tries to see if the boy recognises her at all. When Alec gives her a shy smile before going back to petting Chairman Meow, it isn’t hard to see that he doesn’t. Magnus sighs, rubbing circles into Alec’s back as he listens to the others converse around them. He smiles slightly when he feels the boy start to slump against his chest. “You’re getting tired, come on – time to take a nap and then we can watch more movies when you wake up.”

Alec seems to mull it over before admitting defeat, climbing off of the warlocks lap to allow him to stand up before raising his arms up to ask to be carried. Magnus raises him up into his arms and carries him to the spare room that has been temporarily allocated as his, lying him down and pulling the covers over the boy. He runs a hand through the boy’s midnight locks before turning to leave after sitting with the boy for a while and making sure that Alec has fully fallen asleep and will put up no complaints to the warlock leaving him.

\----------------------------------------------------------

“I guess you can see the problem now,” Izzy is saying as Magnus makes his way back into the room, assuming correctly that the others would take on the responsibility of explaining the whole situation to Lydia while he was absent from the room and dealing with Alec. “We don’t even know how to explain to our mum what caused this situation.”

Lydia is quiet for a minute or so before speaking calmly, “That may be so but I assume that you are working on finding a solution as we speak so this shouldn’t last for too long,” She turns her attention to Magnus, “Right?”

“That’s the plan and I also have Catarina Loss arranged to come round at the earliest convenience to see if she knows anything that can help or turn him back.” Magnus nods, sipping on a cup of coffee while watching the proceedings of the conversation and stroking Chairman Meow, who seems content with the attention but seems to love having the presence and the attention of the small child in the apartment even more than his actual owner.

\-----------------------------------------------

Alec rolls onto his back and rubs his eyes before stretching all of his limbs out as he wakes up from his nap, glancing around and pouting internally when he sees that Magnus has left him at some point. He wriggles out from underneath the blanket, shuffling to the edge of the bed and dropping down to the soft carpet with a muted thud. The door opens just as he is beginning to decide where to look for Magnus first, revealing the blonde lady that followed Jace earlier. Alec shuffles, unsure what she wants from him and edging back when she approaches him.

“Hi Alec, do you remember me?” She asks as she crouches in front of him, sending him what he thinks is meant to be a reassuring smile.

Alec looks down at his feet as he shakes his head in response to the question he has been asked, remembering how much his mother would scold him for not answering questions even if they are asked by people he doesn’t know.

The blonde woman sighs, though Alec can’t be sure whether that was a good sign or not so he doesn’t pay much attention to it, before speaking once again. “My name is Lydia, I work with your mum, brother, and sister.”

Alec glances at her briefly but he still doesn’t recognise her so again he shrugs, edging away from her a little more and glancing at the door more often in a hope that one of the others will come by and rescue him from this awkward encounter. She backs off when that gets no real response, instead motioning for him to follow her as she leaves the room and mumbles that everyone else is in the kitchen where Clary is making dinner for everyone. He looks down at his bare feet, hearing the dull pats as he steps across the laminate flooring as he follows her to the kitchen, perking up when he hears the others; more so Jace since he is laughing at something with their sister.

Alec is a few paces behind when the pair enter the kitchen, spotting his siblings almost immediately and making his way to them quickly. Izzy greets him with a smile as she pulls him up onto her lap and rubs his back in comfort when he hides his face in her neck and burrows close. Alec shuffles and sighs as he settles once again in response to Jace absently rubbing soothing circles into the limb closest to him as well.

With the others around he feels more comfortable and it seems to show as Lydia takes a seat across the table but this time does not make any attempt to question the young male, already having seen how he just shuts down and looks for an escape.

Alec is eventually deposited in the seat next to his sister so that they can both eat, though it is still quite an uncomfortable affair as he feels the eyes of Lydia on him quite often throughout the whole meal which makes his nervous no matter how much he tries to ignore it.

He just doesn’t understand – why is she so focused on him? Did he do something wrong?


	6. Chapter 6

Alec is enjoying the time he is spending with Magnus and everyone else. Lydia is still uncomfortable to be around but Alec has resorted to pretending not to see her staring and Magnus has reassured the young boy multiple times that the blonde woman cannot do anything to Alec while she is still under the warlocks roof or she will be dealing with said warlock.

“Alexander, a friend of mine is coming round so we need to get you dressed,” Magnus calls out as he prepares breakfast for the young child that is playing with Chairman Meow in the living room.

It’s just them today as the others are on missions or otherwise busy with other things but they have already told the warlock that they will probably be dropping in to visit the pair again later on and to say hello to Catarina who has been away for a while and has only recently come back.

“Is your friend nice?” Alec asks hesitantly as he reaches up and allows the warlock to pick him up so that they can get to the bedroom where Magnus will help him get dressed. “Or, is your friend scary like Lydia?”

“Lydia isn’t scary, she just doesn’t know how to deal with children all that well. As for my friend, Catarina is really nice and she loves kids. She works as a nurse and she has an adopted daughter called Madzie, both of them are warlocks, like me. Madzie is going to be coming too but I’m sure you won’t mind her.” Magnus reassures the boy as he sets about his task of getting the boy dressed for the day. This has become a common routine now for them both so Alec doesn’t put up as much of a protest about being helped as he used to. Once the boy is dressed, Magnus directs him to go and eat his breakfast before watching the boy scurry off to do so before mumbling, “Hopefully Catarina will know something to bring you back to me, Alexander, because I fear I’m losing you slowly as the days pass by.”

\------------------------------------------------

Alec looks round from the cars he has been playing with for well over an hour now when there is a sharp, precise knock on the door. He glances at Magnus but shifts nervously on the spot when he sees the frown on the warlock’s face – it isn’t his friend then. Magnus snaps his fingers, making all of the toys Alec has been playing with over the course of the morning disappear before picking up the boy.

“I need you to be a good boy, Alexander. You need to hide and I’ll come and get you when it’s safe, okay?” Magnus urges the boy to agree before putting the boy down outside his study and nudging him through the door, watching him dart off to go and hide before shutting the door – locking it and placing wards over the entrance just in case.

Once he deems that Alec will be safe, he heads towards the front door where the knocking has persisted. He opens the door carefully and his eyebrows rise when he sees who is on the other side of the door.

\----------------------------------------------

“I believe you can be of assistance to me.” Maryse Lightwood states, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for him to either confirm or deny her request.

“Well, that may depend on what it is you want me to do – after all, I request payment for all of the services I offer people, it’s a policy,” Magnus states but lets her in nonetheless.

She walks through the apartment like a woman on a mission – which she most likely is – barely looking at anything as she heads straight for the sofa, expecting him to follow her like a lost puppy. He does so but more out of curiosity, and to make all of this go by faster than out of obligation.

“I believe my children have visited here multiple times in the past week or so, and I have only seen Alec once – for his meeting the other day – otherwise he is nowhere in the institute. I am of the opinion that you may owe me an explanation.”

Magnus hums, turning and shooting a quick glance at the corridor where Alec is nestled safely in his study, before heading to the bar. “They have been here but I hardly see the issue, I quite like them and they seem comfortable enough to drop in unannounced whenever they please anyway.”

Maryse seems to drop all professionalism, her eyes taking on a desperate look as she looks him in the eyes for the first time since entering the loft. “I haven’t seen or spoken to my oldest son properly for over a week, Magnus. I just want to see my little boy and know that he is okay. He’s strong and amazing at his job but I’m his mother and I worry about him as much as, if not more than, you do.”

Magnus sighs, swilling the alcohol in his glass as he thinks over his options. He could get one of the others to come and pretend to be Alec for appearances again, but as his mother, she may see the small mistakes and differences and notice that that isn’t her son. Or, he could tell her the truth. It’s not his fault so she can’t wholly blame him but he’s also not sure that she would consider Alexander safe in that state or in here in the home of a warlock – even if the warlock is said son’s boyfriend.

The decision is taken out of his hands as Jace walks in and, without looking to see if Magnus has guests, calls out a distinctive question. “Hey, Magnus, I got off early and thought I might visit the little guy. Where is he?”

Maryse looks shocked, glancing from Magnus to Jace – who freezes when he sees her – and back again before mumbling with a confused frown, “You have a child?”

Magnus sends a glare to the blonde male that just barged into his apartment before reluctantly nodding, “Technically I am looking after a child right now, yes.”

“Oh, that’s an... interesting development.” She pauses halfway through her statement before continuing once she finds the words she wants to use. Magnus raises his eyebrows as he sips his drink, silently agreeing that the whole thing with Alexander has been an interesting development. “Can I meet them? I don’t look the type but I do like children.”

Jace and Magnus exchange a look, having a silent conversation before the blonde nods and walks off to text the others that Maryse may or may not be about to meet Alec and will most likely recognise the boy straight away since she raised him.

“I guess I’ll go and fetch the little guy – if he wants to come out, that is. He may be a little shy so give him a moment.” Magnus states, sighing unsurely as he walks towards Alec’s hiding place; there aren’t that many places to hide in the study so he has a pretty good idea where the small boy may be.

\--------------------------------------

Alec shuffles back further away from the light and into the shadows as he hears footsteps making their way down the corridor to the room he is in. He hopes it is Magnus coming to say that it is okay but a part of him isn’t so sure it is going to be the warlock. When the lock on the door clicks open, Alec lets out a shaky exhale and curls up tighter into a ball, watching the opening in front of him for any signs of who has made their way into the room.

“It’s just me, Alexander. You can come out now if you want.” He perks up at the sound of Magnus’ voice. “They’re still here but she won’t hurt you. I promise. She actually wants to see you.”

Alec hesitantly crawls out of his hiding spot under Magnus’ desk. “Is she going to take me away?” He whispers, tears glistening in his eyes.

Magnus takes on a heartbroken expression as he sees the moisture gathering in the boy’s eyes. “If she tries then I won’t give you up without a fight.”

Alec nods before crawling closer, yet to stand as he is still half debating whether he should go back into hiding until the newcomer goes away.

“Jace has come to see you too. Don’t you want to come and see him and ask him to play cars with you?” Magnus asks as he picks up the boy, holding him close to his chest and swaying slightly to further calm the boy.

“Okay,” Alec whispers, fisting one hand into the warlock’s shirt and wrapping the other arm around Magnus’ neck, hiding his face in his neck just for good measure.

Magnus takes a deep breath before turning and walking slowly back towards the living room. There are more people here now, he felt them as they passed through his wards, but nobody is really talking – mostly just small talk. Magnus pauses in the entryway, shutting his eyes and taking another deep breath as he holds Alec that little bit tighter to his chest, already reluctant to let the boy go. He steps into the room once he has collected himself completely, snapping his fingers to make Alec’s toys reappear.

“Do you want to play or stay here with me for a bit?” Magnus asks the child in his arms, ignoring the looks on everyone else’s faces as he bounces the boy slightly because he knows that makes Alec laugh.

“Cuddle but Jacey has to promise we can play cars later.” Alec mumbles, wriggling as if the action can bring him any closer to the warlock.

“He will; if he doesn’t then I’ll just have to make him, won’t I?” Magnus murmurs, sitting down across from Maryse and avoiding her gaze for a second. “Would you like to pick up on where our conversation left off or would it not be appropriate for you now?” He directs to the woman sitting across from him.

“I said what I planned to say. If I had known about the child I probably would have chosen a better time to come here.” She responds, watching the warlock fuss over the boy as if he were his own. “I didn’t know you had a child if I am honest.”

“I don’t - he's not mine, that is. I’m caring for him for the time being,” Magnus glances up briefly at the amassed group before meeting the woman’s eyes. “Until we find a counterspell, that is.”

“Oh, so this is the effect of some magic of sorts? The child looks quite normal to me.” Just then, Alec comes out of hiding as Chairman Meow decides that he wants attention. The look of recognition on Maryse’s face goes unnoticed by no one. “He looks like Alec; so much like Alec did at that age.”

Magnus shuffles the boy around a little so that his face is not hidden as Isabelle breaks it to her mother that the child in Magnus’ lap is her oldest son under the influence of a spell. Jace goes on to explain just how he got into this situation as well.

Alec frowns when he notices that the visitor is watching him and looks a little pale. He gets down off of Magnus’ lap and shuffles closer hesitantly. “Are you okay? Do you need a hug? Mummy says that hugs make everything better.” But he whimpers and steps back again when he sees that his offer just made it worse and now she is crying too.

Behind him, Magnus frowns at the boy’s wording. Alec seems to recognise that nobody that has been here most of the time is a parental figure to his adult self and that he does have parents but he doesn’t seem to recognise that the person directly in front of him is his mother.

“Ohh, my baby, look at what they’ve done to you,” Maryse mumbles, rubbing the fallen tears away as she sees the innocent little boy her oldest son used to be. “You were so innocent then – I almost forgot that you weren’t always a soldier, too harshly taught from a young age not to be human or show emotion.”

Alec glances around helplessly for prompts on how he is expected to respond to that before moving away completely and climbing up onto Jace’s lap. “Jacey, can you and Clary play cars with me? We can race.”

Jace nods with a small smile before placing the boy back on the floor, lacing his fingers with Clary's and the pair follow the small Lightwood over to his cars. Alec wanted Magnus to play as well but now doesn’t seem like a good time.

The three play cars for a while, the two adults entertaining the boy but listening to the conversation. Alec’s attention soon starts to drift, no longer so interested in racing with Jace and Clary. He starts to get frustrated when they continue prompting him to play with the cars and not to wander off. Magnus always lets him do what he wants within consideration but Jace and Clary are just being mean.

He pushes the cars away again, bottom lip trembling as one of the two passes them back again and Jace puts his leg behind Alec’s back to stop him shuffling back away from them. Clary sighs, reaching out for the boy and rocking him but Alec doesn’t want to be cuddled by either of these two. He pushes against her, wriggling as he starts to cry.

There is a sigh and a soft woosh before somebody else has him in their arms, bouncing him slightly and humming to calm him which is quite effective. Alec fists his hand into the jacket in front of him, resting his head against their shoulder.

“Thank you, Raphael. I didn’t know what to do.” Clary sighs as the two adults on the floor get up, dusting themselves off and joining the others on the sofas.

Magnus looks around from his now pleasant conversation with Maryse when the other two join them again but settles when he spots the older vampire tending to Alec.

“Are you hungry, buddy?” Raphael asks, getting a subtle shake of the head from Alec. Alec clings to the vampire as he starts to walk towards the group. “Magnus, I had a feeling you might need me today.”

Magnus hums, observing the way Alec is reacting to everything right now before giving his friend a smile. “It’s not my fault they don’t know how to entertain a child for a while.”

Alec shifts around a little, getting uncomfortable with the bouncing pretty quickly. Raphael stops it but instead starts rubbing his back which doesn’t help. He puts Alec down when he points to Magnus, letting Alec wander over to the warlock. Alec tugs on his sleeve before pointing back towards the hallway.

“What’s up, Alexander?” Magnus asks, frowning as the boy repeats the same action again.

Alec flushes, not wanting to say it out loud, especially not in front of everyone. He tries again but Magnus doesn’t seem to understand and he really doesn’t want to say it.

“He won’t say it, not with so many people around,” Maryse mumbles, watching the action and remembering all of the times she was at the receiving end of it. When Magnus glances up at her, she elaborates. “He needs the bathroom, but he doesn’t want to ask out loud in front of everyone.”

Magnus raises an eyebrow, looking back down at the blushing boy in front of him who nods slightly before picking him up. “Moments like this I am thankful that some of you know children in general and child Alec better than I do,” Magnus states, heading towards the bathroom. “Come on, you, let’s sort you out and then you need a nap; you’re getting irritable.”

Alec hums, playing with the warlock's collar before getting put down in the bathroom. He nods to let the warlock know that he can do it himself before the warlock goes to wait outside to let the boy do his business. Alec finishes up and stands on tippy-toes to wash his hands, drying them thoroughly before opening the door and gesturing that he wants to be picked up.

He rests his head against the warlock’s shoulder contently, only putting up a protest when Magnus nearly hands him off to somebody else. He lays against Magnus’ chest, listening to the warlock’s heartbeat as they all talk about something or other around him. It doesn’t take long for him to fall asleep, feeling safe in the warlock’s arms with his friends and family all around him also keeping him safe.


	7. Chapter 7

Maryse didn’t know what to think when she first saw him, and now, after seeing all of the antics of her oldest child that he has long since grown out of being replicated in front of her all over again, she still isn’t sure what to think about the whole situation. A small part of her wants to ask if this is permanent but another, much larger, part isn’t so sure she actually wants to know. While it would be the perfect opportunity to fix all the ways she went wrong before, the small child, her child, doesn’t even seem to recognise her; instead, seeking comfort from his siblings and Magnus. But, the look in his eyes – she knows in her heart that he doesn’t see his brother and sister as siblings, they’re friends to him now and Magnus... Magnus is the person he looks to for help. Not his mother; never his mother anymore.

“I’m sorry that you had to find out like this but I didn't get a better introduction to it so I understand what may be going through your head,” Magnus says quietly, rubbing gentle soothing circles into Alec’s back as the boy naps peacefully in his lap. “Catarina is coming over later; she may know a way to bring him back. I may be the High Warlock of Brooklyn but this is not something I have experience with.”

“I talked to some Seelies about all of this, not telling them exactly what happened but asking about what would happen if the wrong person is affected by magic meant for someone else. According to them, it can be fixed but it’s complicated and they weren’t exactly open to telling a shadowhunter their secrets.” Jace pipes up from his space a short distance away. “So, yeah, Catarina is probably going to be our best bet if you don’t know.”

“At least you made an effort this time.” Magnus teases the blonde, rolling his eyes when the younger male sends him a childish gesture.

“He’s so trusting,” Maryse murmurs, going over everything she has seen today. “He was always so shy, but he’s not like that around you.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say he’s entirely over that. Lydia seems to strike a chord with him and she makes him uneasy.” Magnus replies, brushing a few of the boys midnight locks back to join the rest. “But that is the only person he has reacted negatively to thus far. He was wary today but nowhere near how he is around Miss Branwell.”

Maryse nods, moving to stand as she brushes herself off. “Thank you, Magnus, for everything – especially when it comes to my son. I don’t say it often enough, especially to those who deserve to hear it. I’m going to go and head back to institute and put up some interference so that it doesn’t become common knowledge that Alec is not there currently. Clary, Jace, Isabelle, I expect you to report for duty tomorrow.” With that and a small tilt of the lip, she turns and makes her own way out of the loft, subtly wiping her eyes and sniffing.

\-------------------------------------------

Alec loves playing with everyone else and petting Chairman Meow but his absolute favourite activity by far is cuddling with Magnus. The warlock is always up for a cuddle too. He lets Alec sit in his lap or holds the boy on his hip as he works one-handed. Alec loves that about him the most – that the warlock doesn’t push him away, in fact, he welcomes all of the affection that Alec openly offers.

Jace and Izzy always play pretend with him or stay with him when Magnus is busy, like now – he’s getting something ready for his friend to arrive soon – and Clary always draws with him or sits with him, letting him go through her art-pad and answering any questions he has.

“You have these pictures on your arms, don’t you?”

“My runes? Yeah, they are similar to those ones.” Clary answers, sending him a small smile. “Jace has some too, and Izzy. I bet you would look so cool with them too.”

“But Magnus doesn’t have them and he would be left out if I got them. That would be mean.” Alec protests immediately, turning to the next page which contains an actual picture this time. “Is this your mummy and daddy?”

“That is my mum, but Luke isn't my real dad. He has been there for me for a long time so I guess you could say he plays the father role in my life. That one,” Clary answers, shrugging as she thinks it over before pointing to the figure on the end. “That is my best friend Simon. You remember Simon, right? He has been my best friend for a long time, we grew up together.”

Alec nods, tracing the lines on the page with his finger before looking up at her. “You and Jacey and Izzy are my best friends.” He states, leaving no argument.

“What about Magnus? Is he not your best friend too?” Isabelle asks, genuinely interested in what Alec will say in response to this particular question.

Alec makes a face as he thinks over the question before hesitantly shaking his head. “He can’t be my best friend because I love him. Best friends don’t love each other like that.”

Jace and Clary exchange wide-eyed looks which Isabelle glances towards the aforementioned warlock who had been listening to the conversation and froze at the most recent answer, bewildered by what he has just heard.

“I’m sure Magnus loves you too, buddy,” Jace answers, being the first to recover from the shocking answer to respond to the now fidgeting boy. “In fact, I know he does.” When Alec’s face lights up instantly, Jace knows that those were the right words to say.

“Alright Alexander, my friend is coming in a couple of minutes and Madzie is definitely coming too. You’re going to love them, I promise, now let's get you cleaned up because you have graphite all over your hands from tracing the pictures.” Magnus shakes off the answer, for now, and continues on to what he was going to do when he first came back into the room from his study.

“Is that bad?” Alec frowns, examining his hands curiously.

“No, but we still have to wash it off because it’s not good for you if you put your hands in your mouth,” Magnus explains, motioning the boy to walk ahead of him as he directs him to the closest sink before picking him up to put on the counter next to the sink. He wets a tissue under the tap before carefully scrubbing at the young boy's hands, mumbling under his breath, “An unfortunate habit you seem to have picked up from somewhere – everything ends up in your mouth.”

Alec watches as the black on his hands is scrubbed away manually, drying his own hands on another tissue when the warlock tells him to do so. Magnus is picking him up again, placing him on his hip, when a portal appears in the living room. Izzy had explained them to him earlier so that he wouldn’t get scared by one appearing out of nowhere in the same room as him. Magnus commented every now and again but otherwise, let Isabelle explain it all.

“Magnus, darling, it’s wonderful to see you.” A woman gleefully calls as she steps through, a small girl following her through.

The girl waves to Magnus but immediately heads for the group of shadowhunters on the sofas, disregarding Alec for now which he is kind of thankful for because he isn’t sure about her yet. He hides face against Magnus’ shoulder when Magnus enter the living room area and the woman comes over to greet him properly.

“Cat, how I’ve missed you, my dear.” The warlocks clasp each other hands for a moment before she lets go and goes to reach out to Alec.

He shakes his head, wriggling manically and whimpering as he grips onto Magnus tighter, hoping the male will save him from the situation that he obviously doesn’t want to happen or like.

“Okay, okay, stop wriggling, it’s okay,” Magnus reassures him, moving away from Cat and walking around the room a little as he rubs the boys back. “Cat was just saying hello but she won't touch you if you don’t want her too.”

“I’ve never seen him react like that before,” Jace mumbles, everyone in the room having seen the ordeal.

“He’s never met me as a child, and only met me briefly a few times as an adult. I’m not surprised by the reaction.” Catarina replies, taking a seat and fondly watching her friend tend to the child.

“But he didn’t know Simon, Luke, Raphael, Clary or Lydia as a child but he didn’t react like that to them,“ Isabelle points out.

“Apart from Lydia – she’s definitely still a work in progress,” Magnus cuts into the conversation, still reassuring the boy with touch but no longer with words since he has calmed enough for now.

Alec watches the whole group warily from his spot on Magnus’ shoulder, one hand fisted in the warlock’s shirt while the other lays just in front of his face, fingers dangerously close to going into his mouth knowing Magnus will scold him if it ends up in his mouth since the warlock hates that particular habit. The girl, who he guesses is Madzie, watches him intensely and waves when she sees him looking her way.

Alec bites his lip, pressing closer to Magnus subtly for comfort before returning the wave unsurely. Clary moves to walk past on the way to the kitchen and this prompts Alec to reach out for her, wanting to go with her just so he can leave the room but she catches his hands, pressing a kiss to his knuckles before continuing on.

Magnus makes an effort to make the boy smile and feel comfortable but Alec isn’t playing along so he just sits down with the boy on his lap and converses with the group as they let Alec acclimatise to the newcomers. Alec keeps his eyes on the girl, seeing her as less of a threat to him since she is a child like him.

She smiles slightly, moving her hands subtly and making a shape appear that forms into the shape of a cat. She keeps the shape close to her for a moment as Alec watches curiously before making it walk across the room in midair and onto the arm of the sofa next to him. Alec watches it for a moment, noticing how much it looks like Chairman Meow before reaching out, humming as the cat bats at his hand and reacts like any cat Alec has ever seen before jumping off to the side.

Alec moves in Magnus' arms, following the cat shape and frowning when he looks over the arm to the floor and doesn’t find it. He looks towards the girl who giggles before making it appear again, sitting on the floor just out of his arms reach when he puts his hand out towards it.

“He likes cats, huh?” Cat observes the boys fascination with amusement, seeing Magnus doing the same.

“We used to have a cat at the institute when we were growing up, Church was only ever nice to Alec so I’m not surprised,” Izzy comments as Jace laughs slightly at the memory of the temperamental feline that used to prowl the corridors.

“Magnus, where did your cat go? He can play with this one.” Alec comments excitedly, pointing to the wispy animal prancing around on the floor.

Magnus laughs, placing the boy down and watching as he crawls around following the animal, making his way to the girl and asking her quietly if she will play with him once he has warmed up to her a little more. Once Alec wanders off with Madzie, the actual adults of the group start talking everything over.

\-----------------------------------------------

“My name is Madzie,” The warlock girl says quietly after a few minutes of creating illusion animals for him to chase around.

“I’m Alec but Magnus calls me Alexander,” Alec replies, dropping down and sitting crossed-legged in front of the girl. “I wish I could do that, it looks fun.”

“It is, but it makes me tired to do it a lot.” She replies, playing with a doll she conjured herself. “Don’t you like Catarina?”

“I don’t know her, and my mum always said that you shouldn’t talk to strangers, go near them or let them touch you because they might not be very nice,” Alec replies back, listing off the rules on his fingers before shrugging when that is all he remembers at the moment. “Isn’t she your mum? Why do you call her by her name?”

“No, I don't know my mummy, Catarina looks after me and Magnus and his boyfriend always visit me when they have time between jobs.” Madzie looks up, studying the boy in front of her. “You remind me of Magnus’ boyfriend.”

Alec pauses thinking for a moment before picking at the hem of his trousers. “I don’t know who that is.” He starts to roll around one of Chairman Meow’s toys before asking yet another question. “Do you think his boyfriend would like me?”

Madzie giggles, “You ask a lot of questions.”

Alec smiles self-consciously, “I like answers but I can be quiet if that’s what you want.”

“No, it’s okay, I like questions because you always find out something new.” She shrugs, “I think Magnus' boyfriend would like you but it would probably be weird since you’re really similar. Magnus probably wouldn’t be able to handle two people that are the same.”

“Oh,” He looks down, going back to playing with the toy and pushing it towards the cat, having come over to see who is touching his toy, when it starts batting at his hand each time it is close enough for the feline to reach. “Maybe.”

They play quietly, each with their own toys, before Izzy comes to collect them for dinner. Alec reaches up and asks to be carried while Madzie, who is older than him by a few years he found out during that time, walks alongside them to the dining room table where everyone has gathered. Jace takes him from Izzy as it is his turn to settle him in his seat at the table while she goes to help bring everything over.

“You have to let go, buddy,” Jace murmurs, trying to pry Alec’s fingers from his shirt when he goes to put him down but finds that the boy won’t let go.

Alec whimpers and grumbles sadly but releases the shirt and lets Jace put him in his seat, playing with the cutlery as everyone moves around him and sets everything down on the table. He doesn’t feel hungry anymore, the conversation with Madzie replaying in his mind and putting him off a lot more than he thought it would. He glances around as everyone settles, the newcomers fitting in like they have always been there.

“Eat up, Alexander,” Magnus gets his attention, nodding his head towards Alec’s still full plate since he is yet to eat anything off of it, just playing with it.

Alec huffs, starting to pick at the food and eat small bites, not interested in any of it. They others talk and laugh about something or other but Alec is not hearing a word of it, instead, he turns his attention to Chairman Meow who has appeared by his side as if knowing that he doesn’t feel as cheery as he did before. He startles when he is picked up, being placed on someone's hip but settles against their shoulder when it’s just Jace.

Jace carries him until they are quite a distance away from where he can hear everyone still eating in the living room before placing him on his feet and crouching in front of him to meet his eyes. “Talk to me, Alec. I can feel when something is wrong and I don’t like seeing you soo down.”

Alec tries to look away but Jace only turns his face back towards him before he huffs, mumbling what he has been thinking about with a frown. “Madzie says that Magnus has a boyfriend but that he wouldn’t be able to have both of us around at the same time.”

Jace is quiet as he listens to what Alec has to say before frowning himself. “That’s not true Alec. Even if you were both around at exactly the same time, I’m positive that Magnus would be able to give his time to both of you equally. He wouldn’t just forget you, Alec. Look, he shares his time with you and with all of us but he has never forgotten to be there for you all the time you’ve been here – he’d definitely be able to deal with both of you at the same time.”

“Even if we are really, really like each other?” Alec pouts, holding on to Jace’s sleeve.

Jace smiles at the wording, “Yes, even if you are so similar. He loves you, Alec, and he won’t give you up for nothing.”

Alec squints as he thinks it over before nodding, “Okay, you’re an adult so you should know more about adults than me.”

The confidence in his voice ends up making Jace laugh, “Yeah, exactly – if only more people listened to what I had to say, life would be so much more fun.”

Alec smiles, nodding enthusiastically before Jace sweeps him up again to head back to their meal, teasing Alec good-naturedly when the young boy’s stomach protests about the lack of food it is receiving. Jace has to know what he is talking about – Alec trusts him to know what he’s talking about.


	8. Chapter 8

Catarina does what she can with the limited amount of contact and interaction that Magnus has been able to convince Alec to give her over the time she has spent at the loft, before letting her friend know that he can set the boy loose again since he obviously doesn’t want to be in her general vicinity all that much right now.

“It’s a complicated spell, one that requires a few ingredients that may be challenging to get my hands on,” Cat concludes, watching as Madzie once again starts entertaining Alec with magic tricks and illusions.

“So, is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Jace questions, glancing at the two female shadowhunters standing either side of him, “Will we be getting the Head of the Institute back again?”

“You will,” Cat puts her hands up to pause the glee that is breaking out across the faces of the adults present, “But, not today or tomorrow, so the Institute is going to have to handle itself for just a while longer.”

Jace and Izzy hug, one of Jace’s hands clasped in Clary’s, as they all smile and agree that the Institute can handle itself for a few more days. Magnus looks down when he feels a tug on his shirt, seeing both children looking up at him.

“What’s up? I thought you two went off to play.”

“We did but Alec doesn’t want to play anymore,” Madzie answers, making her way to the female warlock’s side and grasping her hand. “Can I have a snack, Catarina?”

Catarina nods, taking Madzie to the kitchen once she gains permission from Magnus to go and raid his cupboards or do whatever she wants to feed the young girl. Magnus crouches so that he is eye-level with Alec and waits for him to tell him what it is he wants – something that they’ve been working on over the past day or so.

“Cuddle?” Alec whispers, eyes downcast as he reluctantly voices his request.

Magnus frowns slightly but picks the boy up nonetheless. It’s not uncommon now for Alec to seek him out for comfort, it is just odd timing. However, it may have to do with something else entirely.

He carries the boy easily on his hip, snapping his fingers and making an iPad appear on the coffee table and a cup of coffee on a coaster for himself.

“Tired, Magnus?” He hears Cat ask as everyone moves to take a seat, Madzie being careful as she sets her drink on another coaster while Catarina places her food down as the girls gets comfortable on the floor by the table.

Magnus hums in agreement as he moves Alec to sit in his lap, the boys back to the warlock’s chest, and sets up a game on the table for the boy to play, keeping one arm wrapped around the boy’s stomach once he is settled and holding his cup, which he drinks from, in his other hand.

“We actually had a rough night last night,” Magnus shrugs, “He didn’t settle that well and was up a number of times for one reason or another; from nightmares to needing the bathroom.”

Catarina frowns but shrugs it off as the shadowhunters glance at each other, “Maybe he was a difficult child, some kids are just like that.”

“No, mum would always comment that she wished Max had been as easy as Alec as a kid,” Isabelle comments before Magnus can reply.

“It’s probably nothing, we both know that sometimes children just don’t want to settle from time to time.” Magnus basically puts a stop to the speculation. “I got him to stay down eventually, I’m just a little tired, that’s all. Not enough to need a nap or whatever.”

\-------------------------------------------------------

Alec shuffles around, tipping his head back against the warlock’s shoulder and abandoning the game in favour of doing something else. He plays with the rings on Magnus’ fingers absently as he watches the two warlock’s talk, the subject obviously friendly and familiar to both but nothing that holds his attention much.

He pushes the tablet to the side, turning around in Magnus’ lap and studying the warlock intently. He sends the older man a wide, toothy smile when he looks down at him with a raised eyebrow. He then traces some of the patterns he saw in Clary’s book against the warlock’s shirt before asking Magnus a question quietly.

“Why don’t you have patterns too? Are you more special?”

Magnus huffs, downing the rest of his coffee and making the cup disappear before answering. “I guess so. They don’t work the same for me so I don’t have them.”

Alec nods enthusiastically, kind of understanding but not exactly wanting to seem dumb by questioning it. “Okay. Is it nap time soon?”

Jace checks the time, relaying the information to Magnus who seems to think about it then nods to the boy in his lap. “Yeah, it probably is about time you had a nap before you get all grumpy.”

Alec screws his face up, not happy with the word Magnus just called him. “Not grumpy.”

Magnus just smirks, waiting it out as Alec glares at him before the boy slumps face first against his chest.

“Fine. Magnus come too, right?” Alec mumbles into the material of the shirt.

Magnus pauses, seemingly thinking about his options before agreeing to take a nap too since the boy will obviously put up a fight if the warlock doesn’t agree to go.


	9. Chapter 9

Alec whimpers as he hides his face in Magnus’ neck, trying not to think about what happened during their nap. Magnus says he isn’t mad but Alec still feels pretty bad – he didn’t mean to. With a snap, and a very brief flicker of blue, Alec is once again clothed; the fresh, clean smell of the clothes making him settle a little more against the warlock. He then feels the slight rocking motion as Magnus walks, the warlock having already changed as well before picking him up again, and pays attention to the fact that the others are still here - Catarina, Madzie and Izzy at least. He can definitely hear those three but Clary and Jace aren’t here anymore unless they’re just not talking.

“Hey, I thought you were going to be asleep for a while longer,” Isabelle comments as she extracts Alec from Magnus’ arms. Magnus lets him go easily in favour of manually making himself some more coffee. She gives the warlock a once-over curiously. “You don’t look like you got much sleep, everything okay?”

Alec shifts around in her arms, clinging to her shirt as he tries to remain out of the centre of attention – but he also doesn’t want to be here if Magnus and the women decide to talk about it since it is really embarrassing for him.

“He settled pretty quickly this time so I guess that was one battle I won today.” Magnus sighs, humming after taking a careful sip of his drink. “Our nap just got cut short a little.”

She hums in acknowledgement, bouncing Alec in her arms as she moves back to her seat. Catarina eyes her friend before raising an eyebrow and tapping her nails on the back of the couch. “Why did it get cut short? The truth is preferable in this situation.”

Magnus turns to face his friend and lets out a tired sigh. “He’s regressing quite quickly to the mindset that his body is now occupying.” He states, moving to sit near the young boy and run his fingertips through the boy’s soft hair, something Alec hates to admit that he loves. “He didn’t mean to but we couldn’t sleep on wet sheets so I decided not to put him back in the bed – he probably won’t settle now anyway.” He sighs and leans to press a kiss to the boy’s head. “It’s definitely worth picking my battles carefully with you.” He mumbles against the boy’s temple as Alec presses closer to both of them, seeking comfort again.

“Oh, Alec, it’s okay, buddy. Magnus knows it was an accident.” Isabelle mumbles to him, feeling him shake his head in denial which makes her sigh.

Alec partly knows that Magnus isn’t actually angry with him but he still feels extremely guilty since Magnus seems really tired. He squirms in his sister’s lap before sitting back enough to speak without it coming out muffled. “Magnus sleep again, I stay here.” It’s mumbled but he knows that both of them heard him.

“He’s right, Magnus. Go back to your nap, I’m sure that between Catarina and myself we are quite capable of looking after Alec without your supervision for a couple of hours.” Isabelle agrees, making Alec smile a little – he did something right.

Alec watches the emotions cross Magnus’ face before he nods slightly, probably not sure about leaving somebody else in charge now that he has been looking after Alec on his own so often, the others only coming to the loft to visit and entertain the boy so that Magnus doesn’t fall behind with his clientele and  “High Warlock duties” as he calls them. Alec spots Catarina pointing back towards the bedroom and shooting her friend a look before Magnus shuffles off.

He likes being with Magnus, and knowing that Magnus is there whenever he’s with the others makes him feel safe, but Alec knows that it wasn’t fair to keep waking Magnus up last night so he’s probably really tired now. Their little incident definitely didn’t help with that.

Izzy pats his butt and she tells him to scoot over onto the sofa cushion, tipping her head at the different sensation and sound. Alec feels her move his shirt up and looks down as well, whimpering when he spots the plastic waistband of the underwear Magnus put him in.

“He really put you in pull-ups,” Isabelle comments quietly, to herself it seems since she doesn’t look to Alec for an answer. Instead, she shares a look with Catarina over his shoulder, wiping the expression off of her face before he can fully see it, before straightening Alec’s shirt again. “Okay, what shall we do? You’re the boss.” Alec shakes his head straight away, pointing to her.

“Put on a film for him and I’ll make him some food in half an hour or so if he’s hungry then.” Catarina jumps in, directing Isabelle on what she should do since Alec obviously doesn’t want to say anything. Alec thinks it over before nodding slightly and pointing to the female warlock – watching movies is something he’s down before so it seems like a pretty good idea.

\---------------------------------------------

After a few films with Izzy, Catarina and Madzie, he starts to get hungry and turns in his sister’s lap to get her attention. “Food?”

She looks down at him before shrugging, “I don’t know where anything is and I doubt you want anything simple that I am actually good at making. Sorry, bro.”

He pouts, slumping against her chest before cautiously looking at Magnus’ friend, seeing Madzie curled up, sleeping peacefully against her side. “Food?” He mumbles towards the female warlock.

She stifles a smile, “Of course, dear, what would you like to eat?”

Alec pauses, sitting up to properly think it over. “Nuggets?” He murmurs eventually.

“Sure,” She smiles, shifting Madzie to free up both hands before waving them and summoning the food Alec requested onto a plate on the table in front of him and Izzy. “There you go.”

Izzy holds onto him as she leans forward and picks up the plate, bringing it closer to that he can reach it.

“Th-thank you.” He nibbles on a nugget quickly after speaking so he doesn’t have to say anything else.

The women switch the channel to something random, turning down the volume and starting to talk again. Alec kicks his legs as he eats, waving animatedly to Magnus’ cat when it makes an appearance. Once he has had enough, he pushes Izzy’s hand, slipping off of her lap and going to play with some soldier toys that Jace brought in some store with Clary. They became Alec’s favourite when they made Magnus laugh at the sight of them.

He is disturbed from his play a while later, having been so immersed in the game that he hadn’t previously noticed that Jace and Clary have arrived at some point.

“Hey, buddy,” Jace greets him as he picks him up.

Alec kicks his legs excitedly at the sight of the blonde for a second before launching himself into a hug with the older boy. Jace laughs, hugging him back with the same excitement to humour him before carrying him back to the sofa so Alec can say hello to Clary too.

When Alec has settled again after greeting the newcomers, Izzy notices that he is still quite fidgety. Since he is back in her lap again, she subtly checks the pull-up Magnus put him in before sighing and dropping her head back against the cushion and wondering how she is meant to go about this without embarrassing both of them. She already hopes he doesn’t remember much of his time as a child or he would be mortified – this would definitely be something he would never want to remember or feel like he could ever live down.

She gathers herself again before picking Alec up as she stands, turning to Catarina since Magnus is still asleep as far as she knows. Alec wriggles a little, now aware of what Izzy is reacting to, but goes still when Izzy scolds him under her breath for doing so. “Any chance you can summon another one of those things Magnus put on Alec?”

Catarina frowns, moving to go through with the request anyway until another voice jumps in, still deep from disuse after his nap but rested nonetheless. “Give him here, I’ll do it.”

“We didn’t wake you, did we?” Jace asks as Alec is passed to Magnus who he hugs happily in greeting even if he is uncomfortable right now.

“No,” Magnus replies, “I wasn’t aware you had even arrived until my wards told me when I woke up. Then I heard Isabelle’s request and decided to handle it myself. Now, if you’d excuse us for a second.”

Alec nuzzles against Magnus as he wriggles his feet and feels the swaying motion as Magnus moves, whimpering when he spots the supplies from earlier laid out on the bed again.

“Don’t get grumpy with me, if I don’t use them you’ll get a rash and nobody would be happy then,” Magnus speaks as he lays Alec down on the blanket laid out on the bed for this and sets about his task.

Alec knows that wriggling won’t help him so he huffs and ignores Magnus for the duration it take the warlock to change him. Once it is over, Magnus gets rid of the old one and puts the supplies back before picking him up and then depositing him back on his own feet once they reach the hallway.

“Are you hungry?” Magnus asks, holding onto one of Alec’s hands as they walk together. When the boy shakes his head, Magnus thinks for a moment. “Do you want to play? We might even be able to convince Chairman Meow to chase that mouse toy again.”

Alec is tempted but decides to ask a question of his own instead. “Where’s Simon and Raph-“ Alec stutters over the last name a few times before giving up and hoping that Magnus understood what he meant to say.

“I’m sure Isabelle or Clary would ask Simon to come over if you asked one of them nicely.” They are just entering the living room where the others haven’t moved but seem to have paused their own conversation to listen to the one between Alec and Magnus. “As for Raphael, he’s a very busy man but I’m sure we can persuade him to visit again for a little while.”

Alec smiles excitedly at the information before spotting the girls still where they were. He dashes over, scrambling up onto the sofa and onto Clary’s lap. “Can Simon come play?”

They exchange a look before looking to Magnus who nods before Clary replies to him. “We’ll make a deal. We’ll get Simon and Raphael to come over but you have to promise to help Cat and I make dinner for everyone later”

Alec tips his head back as he thinks about it before nodding. He can do that.


	10. Chapter 10

Alec watches as Magnus moves his arms around and a portal appears in the hallway, the figures of Simon and Raphael appearing from the swirling colours. Both vampires greet him with smiles before also greeting Magnus and the other people present in the room. Alec skips over to Raphael, reaching up for the male to pick him up before wrapping his arms around the vampire’s neck in a hug.

“Hello,” He mumbles, feeling the vampire continue walking as he carries the boy.

“Hello Alec,” The vampire sits down with the girls, greeting Catarina as well before turning his full attention back to Alec. “I heard someone wanted me to come back.”

Alec sits up in his lap, nodding. “Magnus and Izzy said you would play with me if I was good and helped Clary make food for everyone yesterday.”

“Clary and...?” Magnus butts in, prompting Alec to squirm.

“Clary and Cata-“ Alec pauses, frustrated with himself for the jumbled pronunciation before trying again. “Cata-ri-na.” He finally gets out.

Magnus nods and lets Alec go back to his conversation with Raphael.

“I done everything they said so that you and Simon were allowed to come see me.”

Raphael smiles, “I’m sure you did.”

Alec grins, reaching out to play with Raphael’s lapels as the vampire converses with the women of the group. When Alec gets bored of trying to keep up with what they are talking about, he looks around for Simon to play with, spotting him talking to Jace. He gets down from Raphael’s lap, wandering over to Simon and pulling on his pant leg until the vampire looks to him.

He smiles cheekily up at the vampire before putting his fingers to his mouth to imitate fangs, “Rawr.”

Simon laughs, crouching down to Alec’s height and doing it back to the young boy but using his own fangs. Alec reaches out, running a finger over a fang before copying the motion and making fangs again.

“Raphael has fangs too.” Simon smiles, making his fangs go back to his normal teeth as he stands up again.

Alec tips his head, thinking about it before grinning excitedly and rushing back over to the older vampire. “Raph goes rawr too?”

Magnus smiles, reaching out to run his fingers through Alec’s hair and watching as Raphael makes his fangs appear. The older vampire brings the young boy into his lap again, pretending to bite the squirming child as Alec giggles and pushes him away.

“No, no bite.” Alec laughs, pushing Raphael away.

The older male laughs, steadying the squirming boy in his lap before pulling the boy into a hug. “Okay, no biting but I need a hug to make up for it.”

Alec hugs the vampire easily, tucking his head against the vampires neck and seemingly not minding that Raphael runs slightly cooler than everyone else. He looks around at one point and watches Magnus get up to make everyone drinks but soon goes back to his cuddle with Raphael.

“I missed you,” Alec mumbles, pulling back and meeting the older male’s eyes as Raphael gives the young boy his full attention.

“I missed you too, kid,” Raphael assures the boy before letting him go as Magnus calls for the boy.

Alec skips over to the warlock in the kitchen area, smiling as Magnus hands him a juice box which he drinks from as he makes his way back to the living room, getting Clary’s help so that he can sit on the sofa with the rest instead of someone’s lap. He kicks his feet happily, spotting Chairman Meow slinking around the edge of the room and tries to catch the feline’s attention but decides to leave him alone when the cat pays him no attention.

Izzy hands him a stuffed toy from the table once he has finished his drink and he thanks her quietly before starting to fiddle with the stuffed cat that Catarina got for him as he thinks of what kind of game to play this time, having been playing adventure games with the toy last time. He looks to Magnus when the warlock moves to sit next to him and takes the toy from his hand, starting to make a funny voice for it as he controls its limbs. Alec kneels up on the couch, getting the stuffed animal out of the warlocks grip and wrapping his arms around the warlock’s neck as he falls against his body, knowing the older male won’t let him fall or hurt himself.

“No, that’s silly,” Alec comments. “Church not silly, he’s strong and he keeps me safe like you.”

“Church?” Magnus comments, remembering Jace and Izzy mentioning that the cat that used to prowl the institute was called Church, “You gave him a name now?”

Alec nods, sitting back a bit and fiddling with the ears on the toy before pointing to its eyes. “They’re like yours.”

“That’s true.” Magnus smiles, keeping an eye on how far Alec leans back as he poises his hands behind the boy in case. “Now, Simon and Raphael came all this way to spend time with you so I guess you have got to hold them to that now. What are you going to make them do?”

Alec shrugs, “I don’t know.”

“If it wasn’t so late, we could have all gone to the park. There again, the park wasn’t the best place to end up last time.” Clary comments, having heard the conversation.

Simon and Raphael look to each other before the younger of the pair shrugs, “If you trust us enough, we could still take him out for a bit; an hour or so, at the most. It’s not like he’s going to last that long.”

“Oh, you have no idea.” Alec hears Jace mumble but the vampires seem to ignore him and he turns back to Magnus just in time to see the warlock nod slowly.

“But he stays by Raphael’s side the whole time because I don’t trust you not to wander off and forget about him,” Magnus states, moving the boy to sit on the sofa and gesturing for Raphael to follow him. “I have some things you’ll need to take with you.”

Alec looks around at those still present in the room before shuffling off of the sofa when Catarina motions for him to move closer to her. He stops in front of her, watching as she snaps her fingers to change him into new clothes before doing some other spells of some kind which make him giggle as the magic touches his skin.

“What exactly was all of that?” Izzy asks once the female warlock is done.

“Protection spells. They’ll keep him safe and let both Magnus and I know if anything happens.” Catarina offers her a tight smile before directing Alec to go and sit with Simon. “Some downworlders wouldn’t think twice about injuring a shadowhunter child if they feel like a shadowhunter has wronged them at any point in their lives. Injuring a child is the easiest way to hit back at anyone which makes Alec even more vulnerable.”

Isabelle nods, casting a glance at the young boy before standing up and brushing down her outfit of any cat fur. “We should get going, Jace, since we need to get back in time to take over patrol tonight.”

The blond nods before both siblings say goodbye to Alec and leave the apartment. Simon and Alec move to wait by the front door, and Alec perks up when Raphael comes back into sight and picks him up easily. Magnus see’s the trio off at the front door, pressing a kiss to Alec’s forehead before telling the vampires to keep him safe.

Raphael shifts Alec in his grip so that he can put the bag of stuff Magnus gave him on properly – it’s just a messenger bag spelled to be much bigger on the inside than it looks – as they descend the stairs and leave the apartment block.

\------------------------

They walk along one of the main streets, usually bustling during the day but is relatively calm as the afternoon has passed steadily into the evening now. Alec is walking between the vampires, holding onto Raphael’s hand and using the other to point to anything he finds interesting. Simon stays pretty quiet, just observing how easily Raphael puts up with being tugged over to shop windows every so often and answers each of Alec’s questions with not even a hint of the usual sarcasm or annoyance. It’s almost like Raphael is a completely different person around children.

“Is it scary at night?” Alec asks after a while, gaining the attention of both vampires as it is nothing like any of his previous questions.

“Why do you ask?”

Alec shrugs as he swings the hand connected to Raphael’s a few times. “Magnus and his friend used magic so I would be okay. But I don’t think it’s scary.” He stops walking and looks at both of them. “Is it meant to be?”

Simon crouches to his height, reaching out for the boy’s free hand. “No, Alec, we don’t think it’s scary. Just some people don’t like the dark.”

“Is something bad going to happen?”

Raphael shakes his head straight away, “No, nothing bad is going to happen, now what do you say we go to the park? I bet it will be basically empty now so you can play on whatever you want.”

Alec nods, letting Simon carry him and both vampires use their speed to get to the park quicker. Once they arrive, Alec is let down to go and play on the play equipment. He goes on the slide a few times, attempting to climb back up the slope instead of going up the stair and giggling as he slides back down each time before he makes it to the top. He then moves to the swings, which Raphael steps up to push after helping him onto the seat and telling him to hold on tight no matter what. He’s not small enough for the other swing seat but Raphael is reluctant to push him too much since he isn’t very balanced – part of that from never having been on a swing before.

Alec smiles when he sees Simon doing something on his phone, unbeknown to both him and Raphael that Simon is sending a picture of the pair playing on the swings to Magnus. Once playing on the swing loses its novelty, Alec holds Simon’s hand as the trio walks around the park, though Raphael picks him up after a while when he starts to lag behind a little.

“He’s a pretty easy kid. I was expecting him to be a lot like his adult self.” Simon comments, his voice hushed when he sees that Alec is basically asleep on Raphael’s shoulder.

“I don’t know a lot about him, but from what I do know, he had to grow up quick and change a lot in order to be the perfect soldier for his parents. If none of that happened, then maybe he would be a lot more like this when he’s an adult, but life was tough on him and that’s just how it is now.” Raphael replies, shifting Alec in his grip and hums in acknowledgement before directing them to go off the park and over to a bench for a second. “Hold this.” He states, handing Simon the messenger bag once he has retrieved what he will need.

“Why?” Simon asks, glancing over at the older vampire before going back to what he had been doing with a small “Oh” when he understands. Once the other vampire is done, they put everything back in the bag and Simon throws away the waste as Raphael picks up Alec, having finished the whole process without waking the boy – something he learnt to do a long time ago with his younger siblings.

“We should probably make our way back; Magnus will be expecting us and it’s been around an hour already.”

Simon nods and the pair walks back, choosing to go the more sedate pace since neither particularly want to wake Alec especially as it came to light that he isn’t sleeping that well recently and has been constantly waking at odd hours of the night which also disturbs Magnus. As they reach Magnus’ floor, the door to his apartment opens and Catarina pops her head out, her expression softening when she sees the boy sleeping in Raphael’s arms.

“It seems you’ve done the impossible,” She murmurs, moving so that the pair can pass by before closing the door. “Kept him safe and made him sleep. I have to commend the pair of you as not even Magnus is having much success with the latter task lately.”

Raphael smiles at the female warlock, nodding to Clary in greeting as he continues holding the boy, for now, occasionally rubbing soothing motions into the boys back when he seems to start getting restless. Magnus makes his way from the kitchen, pausing in his approach when he sees that Alec is asleep.

“Well, this is unexpected.” He gives a slight smile, reaching out to stroke the boy’s cheek before thinking better of it and pats Raphael’s arm instead. “He gave you no trouble then?” The warlock asks as he takes the messenger bag from Simon who carried it the whole way since Raphael had Alec.

“No,” Simon comments, “No trouble, and anything else was handled pretty much by Raphael, I just carried him for a bit.”

Magnus nods, telling Raphael where Alec’s temporary room is so he can put him down for a while.

“If I put him down, he’ll stay for a while but I doubt he’ll stay down for long.” When both warlocks give him a curious look, Raphael continues. “It just something I’ve noticed; he sleeps more and actually sleeps better when he’s in contact with someone. He’s fallen asleep on me twice, he’s slept on Jace and I know you’ve let him sleep on you before.”

Catarina looks thoughtful, “It would make sense – you’ve been stricter about him sleeping in his own room now that he’s aged down to the extent that he wets the bed and himself on occasion, so if he sleeps better with contact then, of course, he would keep getting up at night and seeking out contact when he actually is up.”

Magnus gets a look of realisation on his face as he sits on the edge of a chair and watches Alec sleep, peacefully unaware of the conversation, for a second, “Oh dear, it appears that he’s sleeplessness is my fault then.” He sighs.

Clary reaches over to rub his shoulder, already knowing that none of this has been easy for the warlock and now he probably feels bad since he hadn’t realised just how much contact meant to Alec’s sleep schedule, especially with all the new changes of having to sleep in a separate room from Magnus now.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for the extremely long wait between chapters this time. I've been busy with stuff and just haven't had time to sit down and work on this. I also apologise for any spelling/grammatical mistakes as I wrote this out today and have only gone over it quickly.  
> It shouldn't be long now until the end, so please just bear with my slow-updating self for just a little longer.
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Alec sits at the table with his head resting on his hand, his legs swinging idly while he watches the two warlocks. They are collecting different things on the counter, ranging in colour, state and size. Alec wants to investigate them, but Magnus has told him that he will have to go and play in the living room on his own if he can’t sit at the table, out of the way. He told Alec that morning that the stuff he’s fiddling with is important and that he’s been waiting for it to arrive for a few days now, and that Alec can’t touch it or he’ll be in trouble. Alec sighs, shuffling on the chair and wondering what Magnus expects him to do. He perks up as Magnus speaks, not looking towards the young boy as he focuses on the vials in front of Catarina and him but speaking to Alec nonetheless.

“Jace is on his way here to come and get you before he goes on patrol. He’s taking you back to the Institute where Izzy and Clary can watch you.”

Alec pouts to himself about being sent away but gets over it quickly. He gets down from the chair, heading to the living room to put Church in the bag from the other day that Magnus gave to Raphael. With his toy safely away, he steps over to the sofa, sitting on the floor and reaching under to stroke Chairman Meow.

“Bye-bye, Meow. Jacey is coming to take me away but I’m coming back. I’ll miss you.” He smiles, feeling the felines cold nose on his hand for a moment before he withdraws his arm and gets up, dragging the bag to the kitchen and back to the table where Magnus told him to sit earlier. “Back later, right? Not staying away forever?”

Magnus looks up quickly at the question. “Of course you’re coming back later on, Alexander. I’m not sending you away; they’re just looking after you while I’m busy, like they do here but just somewhere else because I need to work here.”

Alec bites his lower lip and nods, climbing back onto the seat. He doesn’t watch the warlocks this time, his mind elsewhere as he plays with the handle of the bag and waits for Jace to come and get him, wondering a little what the Institute is. He hears the front door open, one of them probably knowing that Jace has arrived and opening the door for him so they don’t have to leave the room.

“Hey, little man.” Jace greets Alec with a warm smile, also greeting the warlocks in the room. “Is he ready to go or does he need changing to whatever?”

Catarina makes her way around the counter, performing the spell things from the other day, making Alec giggle again since it really does tickle, before stepping away so that Magnus can take him. Alec grumbles and wriggles when he feels Magnus check the pull-up manually, hating when the male brings attention to them.

“No, Magnus,” Alec whines, slumping against the warlock’s shoulder when he states that Alec needs to be changed first. “I no like them.”

“Maybe not but you’d hate wet pants even more so I’m afraid you’ll have to deal with them.” Magnus states, lying the boy down on a changing mat – Alec doesn’t know where it came from since Magnus never used to use it but he hates what it means – snapping everything he needs into arms reach.

The changing process has sped up since the first time so it’s over rather quickly but Alec’s embarrassment over them doesn’t lessen each time. Alec sulks against Magnus’ shoulder as the warlock carries him back to Jace, the blonde waiting in the hallway with the bag slung across his shoulder.

“I know you’re busy and need your magic for that, but is there any chance you can portal us to outside the Institute?” Jace cringes, spotting the time on a clock nearby as he takes Alec from Magnus’ arms. “I didn’t factor in how long the journey each way is on foot.”

“Sure,” Magnus states, waving his arms and bringing the shiny portal into existence, Jace holding onto Alec’s hand with his own free hand when Alec reaches out to touch it, quietly scolding him not to do that. “Look after him, blondie, and I trust the others to do the same.”

With a nod from Jace, he and Alec step through the swirling golden colours. Alec shuts his eyes tight, dropping his head against Jace’s shoulder as it makes him feel sick and dizzy. He feels Jace place his hand against the back of his head as they step out of the swirling mess of colours, a breeze passing them as it apparently closes behind them because when Alec peeks over Jace’s shoulder it's gone.

“Feel icky, Jacey,” Alec mumbles, laying his head down again.

“I know, it doesn’t feel good but it goes away. We won’t portal back.” Jace pushes open the door, stepping through carefully and letting it shut behind them.

Alec looks around a little from his spot on Jace’s shoulder but it’s bright and there’s a lot of big tables and screens, stuff that Alec knows he won’t be able to touch, so it’s not particularly interesting to him since it’s just going to get him into trouble. Alec feels some people watching Jace pass through the room but nobody says anything to the blonde so Alec just snuggles his face against the blonde’s neck and feels the rocking motion of Jace walking, the motion stopping short as he pauses at a door before stepping through.

“Look who I have,” Jace calls out causing two people to come closer. “He didn’t like the portal we came through to get back.”

“I’m not surprised,” Alec hears Izzy as a hand rubs his back. “Simon told me that unless you’re used to them it makes you feel sick. I’m surprised his stomach held up, coming through one of those, I’m not surprised he doesn’t feel well now.”

Jace passes him to one of the others, and Alec sees his handing the bag to someone else out of the corner of his eye as he lays his head on Izzy’s shoulder, breathing out a sigh and fisting his hand around the strap of her dress. “I’m sorry, but I had to portal or I’d be late to patrol. Look, I have to go or I really will be late.” Jace rushes out, pressing a kiss to Alec’s cheek and chuckling when the boy scrunches his nose. “Maryse might come by, but I think it’ll be okay since he was okay with her last time.”

Izzy puts Alec down, motioning him over to a rug where some crayons and paper are spread out as she joins Clary in saying goodbye to Jace so he can go. Alec wanders around the area a little, staying in sight of the pair, before kneeling on the rug and rolling a few crayons around.  Clary passes him Church when she sees that he’s not feeling very artsy today, the women sitting at a table a short distance away working on paperwork and letting Alec play for now.

He spots a book on one of the chairs, crawling over and standing on his knees to see the cover. He doesn’t recognise it but he doesn’t think he’d know any of the books here. He pulls it down and flicks through the pages, seeing that it is made up of pictures instead of words and settling in to look at them all since it seems pretty interesting.

“You like comics, huh?” Alec looks around at the voice, seeing the lady that visited Magnus’ loft that one time. She’s been around a few times but Alec mostly sticks with Jace, Izzy, Clary and maybe Simon if he’s there, or Raphael since he’s nice too. “Max likes comics.”

Alec shrugs, pushing the book down his lap and onto the floor carefully, making sure that it doesn’t shut. “Who’s Max?”

She sends him a strained smile, kneeling on the floor a short distance away from Alec. Alec can see Izzy and Clary over her shoulder and that they’re okay with the lady so he doesn’t panic. His attention goes back to her when she speaks. “Max is your – he’s my youngest son. He’s a bit like your friend Simon, only smaller.”

Alec doesn’t notice the correction, instead, he pulls a face and turns his head at an angle. “Max goes rawr?”

She looks confused and turns to Izzy who laughs at Alec’s response. Clary shares an amused look with Izzy before answering Maryse’s silent question. “He wants to know if Max is a vampire too. You said that Max is like Simon, and Alec knows that Simon has fangs because he’s a vampire.”

“Oh, no.” The lady shakes her head at Alec. “Max isn’t a vampire. Max is like you, and Izzy and Clary, and like me. We don’t have fangs and neither does Max.”

Alec thinks it over before nodding then changing the subject, “Picture book is comic?”

“Yes, Alec. The picture book is called a comic.” Izzy states, holding her hand out to help Maryse up and then picking up the comic and placing on a table nearby, still open to where Alec was looking at. “Magnus has made you some food, so let’s get you fed.”

Alec is picked up and sat at the table where the girls are working, the lady joining them as he eats. She occasionally asks him questions, which he answers with some prompting from Izzy and Clary, before Clary brings the comic over so he can look at it while sitting with them.

They all do their own thing until dinner time, the girls engrossed in their work and Alec going over each picture in the comic thoroughly. The lady, her name is Maryse according to Izzy, comes and goes, spending time with them here and there, sometimes explaining what something in the picture is if Alec gets stuck and the girls don’t hear him ask. Jace comes back, bringing them food for dinner that he got on his way back here.

“Hey, buddy, I see you found one of Max’s comics.” He sends Alec a smile, handing out the food to everyone and giving Alec a different bag. Alec leans up on his knees to peek into the bag before Clary takes it and pulls out the food Jace brought him – chicken nuggets and ‘fries’, the name of the other food told to him by Maryse even though she doesn’t look impressed with the food choice Jace brought for him.

“Jacey,” He gets the blonde’s attention. “Is this school?”

The blonde frowns as he thinks it over, “Not really. People learn here but not like a normal school. What makes you think it’s a school?”

Alec nibbles on a nugget, pointing to a shelf with his free hand. “Magnus says schools have books and that people my age have to go school to get smart. He says I don’t need to go because I’m already smart.”

The group chuckle at his response before lapsing back into their own conversations. Alec stays at the table but gets wriggly after a while, catching Izzy’s attention who promptly picks him up. He grumbles and wriggles, slumping back against her eventually. His movements alert him to the fact that his pull-up is making him itch. A little while goes by and it feels more like prickles now, starting to hurt and making him whimper.

“Izzy, hurts.” Alec finally speaks up, gaining the attention of everyone present at the table but honestly not caring at the moment as he’s more worried about getting the pull-up off because it hurts now.

“What hurts, baby? Am I holding you too tight?” She answers, turning him around in her lap.

He shakes his head rapidly, whimpering with tears in his eyes and pushing at the waistband of the pull-up that is peaking up over the waistband of his trousers, sobbing when she still doesn’t get it.

“What’s the matter? Does your stomach hurt?”

He sobs as he shakes his head, still weakly pushing at the waistband even though she doesn’t get it. He’s jostled as someone else takes him, asking Jace to grab a blanket and the bag Magnus asked him to bring with him. Alec rubs his eyes, looking up at Maryse as she places him down on the blanket once it’s placed down on the floor.

“I don’t think it’s his stomach.” She mumbles, seeming to understand him better that Izzy, taking off his trousers before taking off the pull-up, wincing at the state of it before throwing it into the waste bag Izzy holds open for her, the younger girl having retrieved it from the messenger bag along with a new pull-up and the other supplies. “When was he last changed?”

Jace looks to the girls, wincing to himself when they shake their heads. “Just before I left Magnus’ with him.”

“Oh, Alec, why didn’t you tell us you needed changing?” Izzy mutters, running her hand through his hair watching Clary try and distract him with Church while Maryse puts cream on the prominent nappy rash, also putting powder on him to add to the soothing effect and placing a new, dry pull-up on him. “We should have realised he wouldn’t have been able to stay dry all day – of course, he was going to need changing at some point.”

“He’s as bad as Max – so into their comics that they forget to acknowledge anything else,” Maryse states, picking Alec up and rubbing his back as his whimpers start to die down finally.

Alec rubs his eyes, the cream making the prickles go away a bit, but the break down has made him tired now. He rests against Maryse’s shoulder, not caring how wary of her he usually is because she’s providing him with the comfort he needs right now. He yawns, fisting his hand in her shirt and sucking the thumb of his other hand, hearing the others pack away his stuff and feeling Maryse rock him to calm him from his break down. His breath evens out as he falls asleep, worn out and once again clean and comfortable, feeling a gentle hand running up and down his back soothingly in a consistent pattern.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go with another chapter!
> 
> Part of this was requested by someone (WineLover) in the comments on the last part. It's a little different to the wording of the request/prompt that you put down but I tried to keep to the main details of the request. I apologise if I didn't write it the way you originally wanted me to. The tantrum about not having his runes is still entirely possible so there's still that.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy the chapter and I'll see you guys next time with another installation of our favourite little shadowhunter

Alec wakes slowly, fisting his hands and kicking out a little as he comes out of his nap, rubbing his eyes as he pushes himself up from where he was lying down. He looks around, seeing everyone sitting at the table again and talking quietly so they didn’t wake him up.

“Magnus?” Alec mumbles, pushing away the blanket and looking around again for the warlock, still not seeing him so must mean that he hasn't come to take him home yet.

Jace turns, smiling softly when he sees Alec alert again. “Are you okay, buddy?”

Alec nods slowly, climbing down and seeing Church on the floor; he picks up the cat and carries him under one arm while his hand migrates back to his mouth. He wanders over to Jace, leaning against him and still looking around. “No Magnus?”

His voice is muffled by his hand but Jace seems to understand as his face softens and he reaches down, running his fingers through Alec’s hair. “Not yet, Alec. Magnus is still busy right now.”

Alec looks down, frowning and letting go of Church to fist his hand in the pocket material of the blonde’s trouser leg, feeling the others watching him but not actively acknowledging them right now. “Miss him.”

He is picked up, his hand easily being removed from the trouser leg to allow for the movement, being placed on Jace’s lap as the blonde lets him snuggle against him while he rubs the boy’s back. The adults let him sulk to himself for now, though Alec sees Maryse keeping an eye on him which reminds him of how Magnus is when people come to his loft. The reminder just makes him miss Magnus more so he turns his face the other way, his thumb coming back to his mouth, and hides his face in Jace’s shirt, feeling the blonde comfort him as best as he can though Alec can tell that he doesn’t really know what he’s meant to do.

After a while of sulking, Clary picks up Church and starts to play pretend with him. Alec pretends to ignore her at first but soon gives in, giggling at Clary as she makes the cat say and do different funny things, even making him tickle Alec at random moments. She also has sweets from somewhere which she shares with the boy, so Alec is happy enough to play with her for a while, glad that he isn’t expected to read or sit quietly for a long time.

“It’s getting late, do you want me to text Magnus?” Izzy speaks a while later, having been joining the game with Clary and Alec for a while but now looking to Jace since he was the one to bring Alec here.

When he nods, Izzy gets up and Clary picks Alec up from where they had moved the game over to the rug from earlier so they weren’t likely to get hurt by the furniture. Alec clings to Church as the redhead carries him before settling them both down in one of the armchairs, Alec rested in her lap. Alec snuggles up to her, holding his toy to his chest and playing with Church’s ear as he gazes up at Clary.

The girl picks up a book from the side, it’s not the same kind of book at Alec was looking at earlier but he doesn’t mind because she starts reading to him, not minding when he just rests his head against her without trying to see the page she’s on. Alec has heard this story before, Magnus has read it to him a couple of times since it’s his favourite and it always makes him sleepy. Alec yawns after a while, pulling Church closer as he nuzzles at Clary’s shoulder and closes his eyes, still listening but getting tired again.

“Magnus said that they’re nowhere near ready. The spell looked simple on paper but it’s very complicated to set up so they’ve had to admit that it’s going to take a few more days than they thought.” Alec faintly hears Izzy again, his attention only caught because of the mention of Magnus. “He said it’s probably best if Alec stays here tonight because he needs to clean up the loft and both need to sleep because they sounded exhausted on the phone.”

It’s soon after that that he falls asleep in Clary’s arms, not hearing any replies as her voice reading the story carries him to sleep.

\----------------------------

Alec rolls over, opening his eyes and tightening his hold on Church as he takes in the room around him, how dark it is compared to where he remembers falling asleep. He whimpers quietly as he feels his stomach start to hurt again, being the reason that he is now awake, curling up into a ball and digging his face into the soft material of Church. He looks around again when it stops hurting as much, calling out softly for one of the others but sobs wetly when all that answers him is silence. Alec calls out softly a few more times, getting quieter each time he doesn’t hear anything in return; he is just about to give up when he hears the click of the door and light spills into the room from the corridor.

“Alec?” The voice is groggy but Alec sobs in both relief and in pain, hearing Maryse turn the light on to brighten the room before moving across the room and sitting on the bed near him. “What happened? Did you have a bad dream?”

Alec shakes his head, releasing Church as he reaches out towards Maryse, wanting her to take away his stomach ache like she made the pain go away earlier. “Belly hurts.”

Maryse picks him up, placing a hand on his forehead before moving it to each cheek. “Well, you haven’t got a fever, so that’s a good sign.” He listens to her mumble to herself, sucking on his thumb again and whimpering when she takes it away from his mouth. “I think you had too much candy, mister.”

Alec pouts, remembering that Clary had told him not to eat a lot of them. “Icky.”

He looks up, seeing her frown before carrying him towards the bathroom and filling the glass on the side with water. “Do you think you’re going to be sick or just feel icky like when you came through the portal?” She asks, after getting him to carefully sip from the glass.

Alec shrugs, not sure but she seems to take that as an answer, picking up the plastic bin from the other side of the bedroom and bringing it closer to the bed before sitting on the edge with Alec in her lap, rubbing his back in soothing circles. She lays him down after a while, Alec curling around Church instantly as his whimpers persist in response to the stomach ache that is still there but not as bad as it was. Alec doesn’t hear her move but apparently she does as he hears the door before another in the corridor is knocked on.

He startles as a hand is placed on his forehead, squinting his eyes open and seeing Izzy sitting on the edge of the bed with Maryse standing not far away. “Izzy make better.” He mumbles, keeping one hand around Church while reaching out for her hand with the other.

She gives him a wry smile, “There’s nothing I can do, baby. It has to go away on its own – we don’t have any medicine we can give you, I looked everywhere but you’re not old enough.”

He slumps, pressing his face into Church and sobbing as it starts to hurt again. He feels her rubbing his side for a while, nobody speaking, before Izzy shifts on the bed and speaks to Maryse.

“I know someone who knows a lot more about caring for little kids,” She pauses, moving off of the bed and being replaced by Maryse. “I’m going to go call him and let him in if he decides to come here himself.”

Maryse sits against the headboard, Alec curled up near her side, as she runs her fingers through his hair and hushing him when he starts to whimper with each new cramp. She gets him to drink some more water every so often but otherwise just stays with him. She shifts her weight on the bed, disturbing Alec from where he was cat-napping with his forehead against her hip and Church pressed to his chest, when footsteps disrupt the quiet of the corridor outside of the still open door. It’s not long before the owners of the footsteps appear in the doorway and pass into the room.

Alec whimpers to himself as he sits up at Maryse’s prompting, letting go of Church and wrapping his arms around himself as the adults talk to each other.

“Mother, Raphael has been helping us a lot and has a lot more experience with small children than any of us.” She pauses, seeing the affronted look on her mother's face but continues and calms her mother's temper while explaining why she has brought a vampire into the Institute. “You’re an amazing mother but you’re tired, we all are. Plus, Raphael has a little more experience dealing with sick children when we can’t just give them a rune and make it go away as fast as appeared.”

“I know,” Maryse sighs, “I just feel so useless when nothing I know or can do will help him.”

“I know, but the best thing we can do right now is let someone who does know help him,” Izzy replies, gesturing for Raphael to step over to Alec who has been watching the exchange.

Raphael takes a seat on the bed, taking off his jacket and laying it over the end of the mattress for now. “Hi, Alec, I heard you weren’t feeling so good.”

Alec shakes his head, pushing away the covers and reaching out for Raphael, wanting to be closer to the vampire. “Hurts.”

Raphael makes a soothing noise, nodding to the women over Alec’s shoulder to let them know that he can deal with it. He pushes Alec back a little so he is sitting up in the vampire's lap, supporting the boy’s back with one arm, while resting the other hand on the boy’s stomach and rubbing circles with light pressure. Raphael suppresses the smirk that wants to break out as Alec’s face relaxes from its pained frown, the two women taking a seat on either side of Raphael to watch.

Alec watches the movement before sighing when he realises that it’s actually helping to make the pain go away. He slumps more and more into Raphael as the pain goes away little by little and he starts to get tired. Raphael shifts his position keeping up the motion once Alec has been repositioned in his lap to be lying in his arms, talking quietly to one of the others. Alec opens his eyes tiredly when something nudges against his mouth, seeing a bottle with a soft top being held near his mouth filled with water. He lets Izzy press it into his mouth and sucks experimentally, content to drink from the bottle when the liquid is easy enough to get at his own pace.

“I saw it in the bag when Magnus sent me out with him to go to the park,” Raphael mumbles as the women look to him curiously. “It stops him sucking his thumb and he won’t choke because it doesn’t let the liquid come out unless he actually sucks on the spout bit. It's a bit like a baby bottle but designed more with toddlers in mind, I suppose.”

Alec lets his eyes slip closed, feeling better with Raphael rubbing the pain away and cuddling him at the same time. Izzy also makes sure to text Magnus an update that Raphael has helped them with Alec’s tummy ache so it’s crisis averted and that he doesn’t have to worry about rushing over or anything. She also adds that both warlocks should get proper rest before coming to pick Alec up and that the group can handle looking after Alec with the help of Maryse and Raphael since the latter doesn’t appear to be leaving anytime soon – he’s expertise in dealing with children without the aid of runes coming more in handy than they all originally thought.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick update since I've been missing forever and had other stuff going on that has prevented me from writing another, more detailed/developed chapter for this.   
> (This is not proofread, so I apologise for any mistakes!)

Alec plays with Raphael’s shirt collar with his head on the vampire’s shoulder as the vampire walks along the corridor to Magnus’ apartment; he had been allocated to bring the young boy back as the others have things they need to do at the Institute and Alec seems comfortable enough around him to not put up a fuss about anything. Alec is happy enough to be carried around by Raphael since it means he doesn’t have to go through another one of those portals that made him feel sick last time.

The pair comes to a stop before Raphael knocks on the apartment door, adjusting the strap of the bag over his shoulder and then rubbing gentle circles into Alec’s back as they wait for one of the warlocks to open the door for them. Alec shuts his eyes, enjoying the gentle comfort from the vampire, missing the sound of the door as Catarina pulls it open, covering a yawn with her other hand.

“Oh, hello you two,” She waves them through, taking the bag from Raphael and sending it somewhere else in the apartment. “I was expecting one of them to summon Magnus to pick him up.”

Raphael makes a noise of agreement, taking a sip of the drink she places in front of him while still holding Alec. “If I hadn’t still been there, they probably would have.”

Alec nuzzles against Raphael’s suit jacket, before turning his head and blinking tiredly at Catarina, listening to them talking but not really taking any of it in. He reaches his hand up to the mug Raphael is drinking out of, barely scraping his finger across the side before the vampire moves it from his reach.

“That’s not for you,” Raphael reprimands him, his voice gentle so he doesn’t scare Alec but with enough of an edge to it so that the small boy understands not to touch it again. “Are you thirsty?”

Alec fists his hand in Raphael’s suit jacket and nods slightly, still not confident in asking for things. He lets go when Raphael places him down on the floor, sticking close to the counter as he watches the vampire make another one of the bottles from last night and ignoring Catarina who is watching the whole thing. Alec holds onto Raphael’s leg when the vampire reaches down and strokes his hair with one hand while he finishes putting the top on the bottle with the other hand.

“He’s subdued this morning,” Catarina comments, watching Alec take the bottle from Raphael and drink from it without question. “And using a bottle now.”

“I don’t think he’s feeling well, still.” The older male informs his friend while also keeping an eye on Alec.

Alec leans against Raphael’s leg while he drinks before spotting Chairman Meow slinking into the kitchen. He keeps hold of the bottle, making sure not to jostle it too much in case it leaks, as he moves to greet the cat, sitting on the floor near to it as the small feline eats the food in his bowl. Alec strokes the cat carefully once the feline is done with his food and approaches Alec for some affection.

He looks up when his name is called, before getting up and moving back over to Raphael, handing the older male the empty bottle before smiling as he shoos Alec to go and play again. Alec runs to where Magnus keeps his toys, pulling out his container of building blocks. He mumbles to himself as he places each piece, wrinkling up his nose each time something falls or if he can’t find the right piece, unaware of the others in the apartment or that Magnus is in the room with him.

He gets frustrated after a while when his tower doesn’t look right, picking up the block that keeps falling off and throwing it away, missing any of Magnus’ expensive stuff thanks to his considerably lessened strength and accuracy. He squeaks when a hand wraps around his arm and makes him stand, whimpering when he feels a swat on his bottom – not hard enough to hurt but enough to get the point across.

“What have I said about throwing things?” Magnus’ voice comments as Alec whimpers, waiting for the boy to respond.

“No throwing.”

“Exactly.” Magnus agrees, “So you understand why I did that.”

Alec nods before reaching up for the warlock to pick him up, rubbing at his teary eyes as Magnus sighs and rubs his back as he holds him in his arms and moves back to his seat. Alec sniffles, hiding his face against Magnus’ shirt and probably making it wet with his tears but he doesn’t care right now.

Catarina and Raphael join them in the room in the time it takes for Alec to calm down and stop crying, obviously knowing what happened but holding back their comments for now since Alec is in a fragile mood today. Alec also wet himself while he was crying so Magnus had to change him too before the boy would fully calm down.

“How did the spell stuff go yesterday?” Raphael finally brings up.

Magnus sighs again, “It’s one of those complicated, time-consuming spells to make. We found the exact one we need, but it has quite a few steps and needs time to settle or stand in between some of them and a lot of magic so neither of us can do it while we’re doing stuff for customers. We’re going to have to take time away from customers, but first, we have to finish the ones we’ve already booked.”

Catarina nods, “We’re not exactly on a time limit here so everything should work out alright if we do the clients stuff first before keeping our schedules clear so we have enough magic and time to work on this and get it perfect.”

Raphael nods, informing the pair that he’ll pass along the message to the others before getting up, saying goodbye to Alec and leaving to go back to his own duties back at the hotel. Catarina then fills Magnus in that Alec is using bottles now and that he’s still not feeling 100% from the night before, letting the other warlock take in the information as she moves back to the kitchen to make some food for Madzie who has just ventured in from somewhere else in the apartment.


End file.
